Hunted
by MyChemicalKilljoy
Summary: "Your world as you knew it is gone. How far would you go to bring it back? Shepherd created a war, but only we knew the truth." - Sequel to Scarred. Ghost/OC
1. Prologue

**_Hey guys! So this actually came around a lot sooner than I thought it would, to be honest. It's the sequel to Scarred, so I'd highly recommend you check that out first if you haven't already. This follows the storyline of MW3 and there obviously will be some pretty big changes seeing as there's five characters here that aren't meant to be haha. As always, I own absolutely nothing except from my OC's and.. enjoy! x_**

* * *

_All warfare is based on deception._

_For years, the West's hypocrisy has made the world a battlefield. The corrupt talk, while our brothers and sons spill their own blood._

_But deceit cuts both ways._

_The bigger the lie, the more likely people will believe it. And when a nation cries for vengeance, the lie spreads like a wildfire. _

_The fire builds, devouring everything in it's path._

_Our enemies alone believe that they dictate the course of history..._

_And all it takes is the will of a single man._

* * *

I lay waiting in the shadows, knife poised and at the ready. Archer and Toad were positioned on the rooftops behind me and somewhere in the buildings either side of the path were Ghost and Roach.

Two guards walked by my position, slowing down to stop and have a smoke. Without making a sound, I rose up into a crouch and unsheathed my silenced pistol.

'They're mine.' I whispered into the comms. I took three slow, stealthy strides and then drove my knife up into the back of one of the guards, consecutively aiming my pistol at the second one's head and pulling the trigger. They both dropped and I eased back into a crouch.

'Good kills.' Archer complimented me in a light tone and I smirked bitterly before pulling up my assault rifle and making my way round to regroup with Ghost. We were just two days away from being reunited with Price and MacTavish, but in the mean time, duty still called.

We were the remaining members of Task Force 141 and we were continuing the hunt for a man called Vladimir Makarov. Some might say we were stupid. Some might say we were insane, but none of them could deny us of our strength.

We were angry, we were out for blood and we were going to stop at nothing to get it. And this time, we were going to win.


	2. Back On The Grid

'You look ill, Mackenzie.'

'I'm fine, honestly. Just nervous.' I smiled up at Ghost and took his hand into mine. I couldn't tell if he was smiling back because of his balaclava, but his grip tightened round my fingers and that was good enough for me.

Since the day that Shepherd had tried to do away with us in Russia, I had no idea where my relationship with Ghost was at. Yeah, we had told each other how we felt and yeah, we had kissed, but neither of us had really said anything out loud about it since. We were just rolling with it, and I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

'You shouldn't be nervous! You should be excited.' Roach grinned and twisted his mask round his hands. 'It's getting weird without them.' He was still recovering from the bullet he took to the stomach, but that hadn't stopped him from hunting for intel with us. There were a few times where he'd had to stop for a few minutes or he would lag behind and he always said that he would make up for it when he was better. Ghost's shoulder was still healing too, but the one time I had suggested that he take it easy, he bit my head off and told me that he wasn't a fucking pussy - in his own words.

'I'm just glad they're both still okay.' I sighed and leaned my head back against the seat. We were on our way to another safe base to finally rejoin our Captains and it was churning my stomach into a bed of knots. In my eyes, it had been too long. I hadn't seen them since they left for Afghanistan, and since then, MacTavish had almost gotten himself killed. We had tried to relocate to their position so that I could see him and make sure he was okay, but we'd had to turn back and I hadn't been able to fully settle since then.

'You and me both.' Archer smiled over at me and I tilted my lips up in response. I was glad we were all okay, to be honest. We should've died out there in the mountains, but by some stroke of luck, we were still alive and kicking. All I could hope for was that I had managed to do MacTavish proud.

_You're doing me proud anyway, Short Stuff! It's good to see that you're sticking to your word. _Aaron's voice floated through my head and I hid my face behind my hair so that nobody could see my grin. In this past week or so, I had felt a change within myself. Thinking about the day I had lost my old squadron didn't make me want to curl up into a ball and cry myself dry anymore. And I had gotten so used to hearing Aaron in my head that it was almost like I hadn't watched him die, so that gaping hole was slowly closing itself up too.

All I felt now was determination and a simmering anger. It was just going to take one spark...

'Ready?' Ghost nudged me slightly and I brushed my hair away from my face. It took me a moments to understand what he was talking about, and then I felt our helo descend. My stomach twisted so violently that I thought I was going to be sick and I had to sit myself up properly and take deep, calming breaths.

The rest of the guys began to chatter away between themselves, but I was scared to speak up in case I burst into tears or screamed or both. The helo had just touched down when I threw the door open and jumped out. I stumbled a bit in my haste to get off, but I recovered quickly when I saw them both standing there.

'MacTavish!' I sprinted towards him and launched myself up into his arms.

'Whoa! Hey, lass.' I felt him chuckle and tried to keep myself composed. I clung to him as tightly as I could, feeling like a little girl again.

'You are such an idiot.' I mumbled, squeezing my eyes shut to ward off the tears I could feel coming on. 'What if you had died?'

'He's a hard bastard, trust me.' Price's gruff voice made me smile and I finally let MacTavish go. I wasn't entirely sure if Price was into the whole hugging thing, but I threw my arms round him anyway to show him that I was just as happy to see him too.

'I can't believe you all made it out of there alive.' We were joined by the rest of the team and I automatically stepped back to be with Ghost.

'We lost Scarecrow, Ozone and Ali.' Roach's excitement had died down a little now that we were onto the topic of who hadn't been as lucky as we had. I resisted the urge to curl my lip at Ali's name, not wanting to remember how she had held that gun to my head. She would've pulled the trigger and blown my bloody brains out too if it hadn't been for Archer.

'Let's just hope that we don't lose anybody else.' MacTavish smiled down at me and I beamed, ridiculously happy to see that he was alright. Being the closest thing I'd ever had to a father figure, it would've just been too hard to have seen him die.

'Anyway, let's go get you settled in.' Price clapped his hands and waved us inside. Instantly nervous, I reached back and slid my hand into Ghost's. The very first time you entered a new base was the worst, and I don't think I would ever get over the feeling of dread that filled me everytime.

'You okay?' He asked quietly. I nodded and let him walk a step or two ahead of me, confident that his mask would put off anybody who was planning on cracking a stupid joke. We only got a quick tour and a brief guide as to where everything was, but I wasn't really bothered. Hopefully we would hardly be here anyway. It was just a place to come back to to rest our heads.

MacTavish was away to take us all to their rec room so we could sit down and catch up, but while walking down one of the corridors, Price popped his head out of a door and motioned us in.

I gave Nikolai a small wave, but my guard went straight back up when the guy who was standing next to him offered me a smile. I didn't recognise him at all; I had no reason to trust him. I had almost been killed by someone I saw as a friend, and I had watched my old General shoot Ghost and Roach, so of course I was going to be wary.

_Price and MacTavish seem pretty chilled out. He can't be that bad. _

I rolled my eyes and sat down into the seat next to Ghost, not being able to help myself from leaning a bit closer to him than necessary while I eyed up the stranger. Who was he?

'Watch this.' Price distracted me by pointing to a wide computer screen and clicking a button. The video started to play and I read the headline "_**Russian President Is Missing**_" as his face appeared in the background.

'The Russian President never arrived in Hamburg for the peace summit. With his whereabouts currently unknown, no one is certain what this means for the peace treaty,' That was all we got to hear from the news reporter because Nikolai had leaned over and turned the volume down so that we could discuss what was happening.

'Looks like Makarov just played his next hand.' MacTavish ran a hand over his mohawk, continuing to watch the screen.

'If he puts himself back on the grid, he wants it to be known.' Price crossed his arms.

'So where do we start hunting?'

'Africa.' The stranger spoke up and I tried not to act alarmed by his Russian accent. I should've been used to it seeing as we were having to work with the Loyalists now, but the only one I had grown used to was Nikolai, 'Makarov's been using a paramilitary group to move shipments into Sierra Leone. From there, they go towards Morocco, and into Spain.'

MacTavish rose from his seat to check the map behind the computer screen, 'He's moving north...'

'Right towards her majesty's doorstep. What's the cargo?' Price nodded towards the strange Russian who just shook his head and shrugged.

'I don't know... But it's important to him.'

Price's eyes flashed, 'Then I want it.'

'We can use the river to get in close. There's a factory in the camp where they store the shipments. The PRF's been waging genocide in the highlands for months. They'll be everywhere.' MacTavish stepped back and glanced towards Price.

'Makarov wouldn't let this travel lightly if it didn't serve a greater purpose, and chances are the bastard will be there personally to see things off,' Price turned to look at us all as he paused and I could see the pride etched across his face when it finally sank in that we hadn't been beaten, 'If he's back on the grid, then so are we.'

* * *

We'd been told that we would have to share rooms because we were the newbies here now. MacTavish said that he would try and get Nikolai to pull some strings for me if I wanted, which had then led to the very awkward conversation about me and Ghost that even had me confused in some parts. It felt weird having to admit it out loud - to MacTavish of all people - that I loved him and that sleeping in the same room as him just made me feel better. Thankfully, he understood and told me to just be careful and not do anything stupid. And that's round about the time where I wished him goodnight and left before it could escalate any further.

'What a day.' I sighed as I flopped down next to Ghost that night. His balaclava was already off and it made me happy to know that he was getting so comfortable around me.

'Yup.' He rolled onto his side and gently kissed my forehead. 'Feeling any better?'

'Definitely.' I grinned and snuggled into him. I felt my smile droop as I remembered the new addition to the team, 'Who was the Russian that was with Nikolai?'

'His name's Yuri. Ex-Spetsnaz. He's one of our best chances at catching Makarov.' His reply was swift and I pulled away from him so he could see the way I was raising my eyebrows. He quirked one of his own in return, 'It was the first thing I asked Price when I had the chance. You aren't the only one who isn't quite sure about him.'

'Thank fuck.' I laid my head back down and closed my eyes, relieved to know that I wasn't just being paranoid. We lay in silence until I started to feel myself drifting off. 'Goodnight, Simon.' I said round a yawn before getting myself comfortable. I felt his lips against my shoulder and I smiled lazily.

'Goodnight, Mackenzie.'

* * *

The next morning, I woke to the news that Price and MacTavish were heading out to Sierra Leone with Yuri to follow up on the intel he had provided.

'Can I come?' I was unable to hide the eagerness from my voice. I was dying to work alongside these two again. MacTavish and Price looked at each other, almost like they were having a silent conversation between themselves. Yuri was just staring at me and I could tell by the intensity of his gaze that he was trying to figure out where I fit into all of this. As soon as the thought passed through my mind, I remembered Jeremy and how he'd done exactly the same. I felt my face slide into a frown at the thought of him, knowing full well that nobody had heard from him or Matt. We hadn't heard from anybody else who had been left at the base actually. Shepherd probably made sure to kill them as soon as we had taken off on those doomed missions.

'Aye, sure thing.' MacTavish eventually nodded.

'I'm coming too.' Ghost spoke up suddenly from behind me and I jumped. I thought he was still in our room.

'No chance. You have to stay and rest up that shoulder.'

'I've been managing to shoot fine-'

'No arguments.' Price cut in. I heard Ghost growl in frustration and when I turned to look up at him, he was already gone. My brows pulled together for a few seconds until MacTavish put his hand on my arm and told me to gear up and get ready. I did so in record time and skipped outside to meet them by the chopper. I didn't have time to track anybody down and say bye, so I just made a promise to myself that I would see them all when we got home.

'Mackenzie, wait.' I turned quickly, away to apologise to Ghost for going to leave without saying goodbye first, but he never gave me the chance. He grabbed the side of my face and pressed his lips to mine before I could utter a word. It was forceful enough to take the breath straight from my lungs and passionate enough to make my knees go weak. He broke away and smiled down at me before pulling his mask back into place, 'Be careful.'

'I will. Thank you.' I whispered back. I saw his eyes flash up towards the three waiting for me and didn't miss the glower he gave Yuri. His gaze caught mine once more before he disappeared back into the barracks. My face began to burn and I had to bite down hard on the inside of my cheeks to stop myself from grinning like a love struck twelve year old.

I flounced past Price, MacTavish and Yuri, acting like nothing had happened, and luckily they didn't feel the need to bring it up. I thought that the ride over to Sierra Leone would've been a bit awkward after that and because of the fact that Yuri was here and just because of everything that had happened in the past week or so, but it was more lively than usual. I hadn't realised how much I had missed these two until now.

When we eventually got there, we followed through with MacTavish's plan on using the river to get in close. I'd always hated anything to do with water right before a mission because it weighed me down a lot more than I was used to, so I was grateful when we passed the worst of it and finally got to walk again.

'Nikolai, we're just outside the village.' Price said when we surfaced.

'Copy. I'll pick you up in one hour.'

'The factory isn't far from here. Makarov's cargo should be there. Keep it silent. Let's move.' I followed his hand signals and moved up, trying not to get too close to Yuri. I know I needed to trust him, but that had to be earned. For now, my guard was staying up when he was around.

'Maintain a low profile. The Militia's all over this area.' MacTavish pointed out the obvious and I saw Price smirk.

'Soap, try not to die this time.'

'You worry about yourself, old man.' I had to bite back a burst of laughter. It would be just my luck to get us caught because they heard me laughing at a stupid joke. I would kick myself out of the Task Force for that if we hadn't gotten killed first.

We carried on in silence, hiding from passing vehicles and ducking under low hanging branches. We stopped momentarily to take out a couple of guards and then again when we heard a commotion at the other side of the tear-away hut we were taking cover in.

'They're gonna torch the poor bastard.' MacTavish crouched next to me and I peered through the bushes. There was a civilian on his knees in front of a group of the militia and they were pouring what must have been gasoline all over him. I smothered a gasp and averted my eyes. I could deal with a lot, but seeing an innocent man get burned was too much. Nobody deserved to die like that.

Price must've noticed my horrified expression, 'Let's light them up before they light him up.' Now that I could do. Without hesitation, I aimed down my sights and started shooting at the soldiers. When they were all down and my nerves had settled knowing that we had just saved someone's life, we moved forward again, only to be stopped by an even larger gathering up and round the corner.

'There's too many of them. Don't do anything stupid, lads.' Price whispered when we were all hidden safely by the long grass. I ignored the "lads" comment and aimed down my scope, checking it out.

'Shit.' I sighed softly when I saw that they had more civvies tied and on their knees. I watched on as they both had guns pushed to their heads and cringed when the trigger was pulled. 'Shit.' I repeated, sounding a lot sadder than I meant to.

I only had time to draw in a deep, determined breath before we were moving again. There were another two patrol cars up ahead so we ended up back among the long grass. As always, my heart thundered in my chest and a thrill ran through me knowing that at any second we could be compromised and we would have to start improvising, big time.

We continued to sneak our way through the village until Soap announced that the factory was just up ahead. Price told Yuri to get on overwatch while we advanced and I was momentarily puzzled. He had been so quiet the entire time, I had pretty much forgotten that he was here. As weird as I thought he was, I had to give him his due: he was good at what he did. Every time one of us alerted him to a patrol on the roads, they would be down and we would be clear within seconds.

When we reached the factory, I let Soap and Price kick in the door. I crept in behind them and straightened almost immediately. There was nothing here.

'Nikolai, the factory's a dead end. No sign of Makarov.' Price spoke over the comms as I walked a little further in and checked the corners, just to make sure.

'He must have moved to the militia's headquarters at the center of town.' I groaned at Nikolai's response. I still remembered our last encounter with militia all too well, and I wasn't exactly hoping for a repeat.

'Heads up, we've got company.' MacTavish raised his gun and Price cursed.

'We're compromised!' And just like that, everything changed. There was no more thrill of being caught. It was just pure adrenaline pumping through us, forcing us to keep going. All it took was one tiny little slip up now and we were screwed. No second chances.

I vaguely heard Price yelling at Yuri to run and rally on him and when he finally appeared, I hardly registered the fact. Just like our last encounter with militia in Rio, it seemed like we were fighting through a never ending wave. We pushed through and Price showed us to a ladder that would take us round to an entirely different part of the village. Soap tried to make a sarcastic comment and lighten the mood which would've been funny any other time, but we were met with a technical as soon as we dropped down to the ground on the other side. Price took him out with one bullet and got Yuri to control it instead to provide cover fire. He was doing a pretty good job of that and we were doing a pretty good job of staying alive until we were attacked by mortars.

'Is this for fucking real?' I choked out. It seemed like every bad experience I'd ever had on a mission with the Task Force had now been rolled into one and thrown at us. I was scared to think of what could possibly happen next.

The truck that Yuri was on got hit with a mortar and he went flying off the back which was a big enough distraction for us to make a break for it. Our new ally was apparently a lot tougher than he looked because he still managed to get up and sprint away with us.

I followed Price up onto the rooftops and my heart sank straight down into my stomach. I knew what was coming, so why the fuck did I keep on running? I jumped at the same time as Yuri and the tin we landed on crashed down under our weight. Stunned from the landing, all I could see was a blurry figure charging towards us with a machette. I reached feebly for my gun, but the Russian beat me to it.

_Now he's saved your sorry ass. Maybe you should cut him some slack, no? _

I grumbled at the voice in my head and let Yuri help me up. Through the comms, I heard Price saying that he could still see us and that we had to keep moving. I smirked to myself when I thought of how Roach would react to this when we got back to base.

It was surprisingly easy to regroup with the other two, and after Yuri had taken control of the mortars to keep another large group of militia at bay, it seemed to calm down even more. We still had to fight our way through the odd gang or two, but it was plain to see that we had gone through the worst of it.

I thought that we were doing pretty well with keeping to schedule - all things considering - until we passed through a creaky old building and saw their bird hovering over the church. They were getting ready to move the cargo. We were out of time.

Panic began to flutter in my stomach and never before had I ever wished so hard to look behind me and see that haunting skull balaclava. Where was he when I needed him to tell me that it was all going to be fine?

I knew he would probably kill me for what I was away to do, but I heard the anger in Price's voice and I saw the urgency on Soap's face and I felt the tension rolling off of Yuri. We couldn't miss our window.

_Ugh, just do it you crazy bitch. _

Gritting my teeth and bracing myself, I trusted them with everything to keep me as safe as they could as I bolted from cover and out into the street.

'_Blitz_!' The familiar Scottish accent made me want to smile, but all I could focus on now was running. Bullets flew by me and I let myself go trigger happy, hoping that my luck would be in and I would actually take down more than one soldier.

I thundered up the stairs and a quick sense of pride flashed through me. I had gotten here before the rest of them in one piece! I was pulled up short when the doors to the church flew open, though.

'Fuck!' I dove to the side and rolled away from their line of fire. I pressed my back against the stone wall and shot down a hyena that they had let loose. Two soldiers came out after that and I quickly popped them off too. I needed to reload, but I was scared in case anymore of them appeared to take a shot at me.

'That is how accidents happen, Blitz!' Looks like my luck was finally in. I was joined by the rest of my team and I waved off Soap's anger at me. Seconds later and they had cleared the rest of the church. I took that chance to clip in a new mag and took up stance next to Price as Yuri broke down the door to the courtyard.

He fell back as another hyena jumped towards him and clamped it's jaw round his arm. I took it down for him as he aimed his pistol at one of the soldiers guarding the cargo. I was just returning the favour for what he had done for me back when the roof collapsed. It only took a few more bullets for us to get rid of the other guards, but we were still too late. By the time the last one had dropped, the cargo was already in the air.

'Damn! Nikolai, the shipment's gone. We missed our window.' Price said angrily.

'What about Makarov?'

'Must've done a runner. Just get us out of here.' I joined the rest of them in checking out one of the crates that had been left behind.

'Empty.' Soap frowned, 'What do you think Makarov was after?'

Price lowered his gun and turned his back to us, 'We'll ask the bastard when we find him.'

* * *

_**Wow, that was a long chapter. Sorry about that! I kinda just kept writing and didn't realise... Oops? Oh, and if there were some bits in this chapter that seemed dull or crappy - my apologies! I was pretty tired when I wrote it, and first chapters are always the hardest to write anyway. Buuuuut enough with the excuses! I hope you enjoyed it either way, and thank you for reading! ^.^ x**_


	3. Mind The Gap

The ride back to base seemed to drag on a lot longer than it should've. We all just seemed to be wallowing in our own self pity at how miserably we had failed. How precious was that cargo? What even was it? Who knew how badly we had managed to screw this up.

Things seemed to lighten up as we began to land though. MacTavish woke from his nap and yawned, then looked at me and grinned, 'I'm telling Ghost about what you did.'

'Huh?' Being not quite there myself, I didn't get what he was talking about to start with.

'Breaking for the church?'

'Oh, that.' I leaned my head back and scratched my cheek. Then it hit me that he said he was going to tell Ghost, 'Shit, wait, no, please don't say anything!' He just winked and crossed his arms. I narrowed my eyes and unbuckled myself before we touched down, getting ready to run out and lie about what had happened before MacTavish could tell anybody the real story.

Staying true to my fashion though, the second Nikolai cut the engine, I tried to rush out and tripped over my own feet, landing hard on the ground and winding myself.

'Fuck sake...' I groaned as I rubbed my face and pushed myself up onto my knees. All I could see was MacTavish's back as strolled off towards the barracks. Price hopped out and just looked at me while he lit one of his cigars.

'You tried.' He shrugged and I gave him my best glower.

'Here, let me help you.' I tried not to flinch away from Yuri's voice and I could almost see Aaron shaking his head at me and telling me to get a grip. For that reason alone I took the hand he was holding out for me and forced myself to keep making an effort.

'Twice in one day. Let's not make a habit of this.' I joked weakly. He was being too nice and I was starting to feel bad for being so cold towards him. It was almost like he knew how I felt and was trying his absolute hardest to change my opinion. I didn't want to decide if it was working or not.

I dusted myself down and had a quick smoke before bidding farewell to Price and Yuri and making my way in to find Ghost. I didn't have to look far. He was standing in the hall outside our room talking to MacTavish in a low tone.

I cursed under my breath and thought about going to hang out in a cupboard somewhere, but they had already seen me. I needed a shower anyway, so I would've had to pass them at some point. Might as well get it over and done with now, right?

'Hey, guys!' I plastered on a cheery attitude and pretended to be oblivious to their conversation.

'Sorry, I was just leaving.' MacTavish clapped my shoulder and breezed away with the air of someone who had just landed somebody else straight in the shit pot.

'The last thing I told you was to be careful, Mackenzie.' Ghost surprised me by remaining calm and hoisting me up into his arms for a hug.

'I was!' I went for the cute and innocent approach while I wrapped my legs round his waist.

'Really?' I couldn't see much past his mask or glasses today, but his tone of voice said it all. 'Soap told me that you held absolutely no regard for your safety at all when you reached the church.'

'MacTavish likes to tell lies.'

'He also told me that you fell through a roof?'

'Oh, yeah.' I gave a short laugh. It sounded so much funnier when he said it and I guess I had to see the humourous side. Nobody got hurt and we both got out alright, so there was no point in crying about it.

'Just don't do anything stupid like that again, please.' He squeezed me tighter and I nuzzled into his neck for a few seconds. Without loosening my grip on him, I leaned back and pushed his mask up over his mouth so I could press my lips to his, telling him without words that I was sorry.

'I've been meaning to ask... Are we like, official?' I queried after I had pulled his balaclava back down for him.

'I would say so, yes.' He nodded and I grinned, kissing his nose through the fabric of the mask before hopping down and going to get ready to have a shower. Ghost showed me where the shower rooms were and told me that he would stand guard outside the door for me like he used to do back at the old Task Force base. And as always, I felt ten times more comfortable knowing that he was making sure I wouldn't be disturbed.

I hadn't thought that I had taken that long, but when I came out, everything seemed to have kicked off and I had missed it. The entire team seemed to have crowded round the door, but their chatter stopped as soon as I joined them.

'What's going on?' I asked, pulling my still wet hair up into a ponytail.

'The cargo's reached Britain.' About four of them all said it at the same time.

My eyes widened, 'Already? How do you know?'

'We'll show you.' MacTavish took hold of my elbow and dragged me through to the briefing room where all their technical equipment was set up. 'The French intercepted a message about a suspicious shipment headed for Britain. We intercepted the rest of the call between MI6, MI5 and the S.A.S. We really shouldn't be doing that, but we need to stay in the loop and it's the only way we're gonna manage it. But the good news is that their best team is on it. Bad news is, we still don't know what the hell is going on.' They played back the recording for me and I tilted my head when I heard a Scottish accent broader than even mine and MacTavish's.

'That's MacMillan, right?'

'You know him?' Price's eyebrows shot up and I grinned proudly at having managed to surprise him.

'Yup. I only met him a couple of times since he's all high and mighty now, but he over saw a lot of my missions. Call sign Baseplate, if I remember right.' I ran my thumb over my bottom lip and smiled slightly when I thought about my time there. Oh, how things had changed...

'Wallcroft and Griffen are in the team investigating this. Know them too?'

'Sure do. If they remember me is a completely different question. I think we only worked with them once. Maybe twice. Ah, I can't remember.' I waved my hand and then shook my head, wanting to get back to what was happening here and now. 'So do we just wait to hear from them or what?'

'Pretty much.' Ghost stretched and flipped on the computer, pulling up the home screen of the SPV website. 'If anything comes up on here, they didn't make it. If it doesn't then they've done their job. Simple.'

'I'm so tired of waiting.' I sighed and sat down in one of the seats. All I wanted was to go to bed and sleep, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to, not with the knowledge that the cargo we had let slip through our hands was now on home soil. At any minute we could be finding out why it was so important to Makarov and I really didn't want to sleep through that.

We all just hung around in the briefing room while we waited. Occasionally, one of us would get up for a bathroom break or to have a smoke, but that was it. I finally got a chance to tell Roach about the roof incident and he told me to go fuck myself for doing something so stupid at a time where he couldn't laugh as hard as he wanted to about it.

Minutes passed into hours and I ended up with my head on Ghost's lap and my feet propped up on Roach. I could feel Ghost playing with my hair and it was slowly lulling me to sleep, but then a loud bleeping resounded out from the speakers of the computer.

'Holy shit...' MacTavish muttered under his breath. I sat up slowly, not wanting to crack my skull off Ghost's jaw. His hand stayed on my back as we all gathered round the computer screen to read the alerts.

"_**CHEMICAL ATTACK IN WESTMINSTER**_"

My shoulders sagged lower the more I read and I had to turn my back to the screen so I could hide my face in Ghost's jacket. Makarov had chemical weapons. And judging by the news reports that were popping up by the dozen, it wasn't just London he had hit. Madrid, Paris, Berlin, Brussels. Pretty much the whole of Europe. Civilians were dead or dying in thousands. Armies were falling. The entire world was being plunged into complete and utter chaos.

'Son of a bitch.' Price spat and kicked the leg of the table that the computer was on and left the room. Everyone was all too focused on the computer screen to worry about where he had stormed off too, so I took it upon myself to go after him. I had seen enough; I didn't want to read anymore about what was happening.

'Be right back.' I slid away from Ghost and jogged out into the hall in search of Price. I followed the sound of his voice instead of poking my head into every room along the corridor and found him leaning against the door frame of the fire exit at the far end of the base. As I got closer, I saw that he was on the phone. I clasped my hands together behind my back and dipped my head, waiting patiently for him to finish up. I tried my hardest not to listen in, but by the sounds of it, it wasn't a pleasant conversation.

When he was done, he swung his gaze round to meet mine and shock jolted through me. I straightened up a bit and tried not to show it. I had never seen him look so defeated. I didn't even know that he was capable of expressing such a thing.

'The S.A.S. team were involved in a train crash. The only two that survived were Wallcroft and Burns. Griffen's gone, Blitz.'

'Oh my God...' I whispered. I wasn't sure how or why, but he seemed pretty cut up about this and I felt complied to apologise, 'I'm sorry.'

He shook his head, 'Don't.'

I bit my tongue and scuffed my boot across the carpet before swallowing hard, 'Are we going to win this?' I glanced up at him and saw the way he was looking at me. _He was having doubts_. I opened my mouth to say something else, but nothing came to mind. There was absolutely nothing I could say right now to make this better.

Almost as if we both knew it was what the other needed, we stepped forward at the same time and embraced each other in a hug. It was one of guidance and strength and it helped drain away some of the dread we were beginning to feel. It was one of complete understanding that this team had fought against all odds and would continue to do so until the bitter end. As long as we all had each other, we could still do this. No matter what.

Makarov had just dealt a huge blow to us and we needed to be able to rise up to the challenge as soon as we possibly could. The faster we played our next move, the higher the chance of catching him off guard was.

When Price and I were done having our moment, we marched back through to the briefing room with a flaring new determination. I positioned myself back next to Ghost again and crossed my arms proudly as Price got everybody's attention. His voice was powerful and angry for having looked so broken just minutes ago and I could tell almost instantly that this was going to turn into more of a rally speech than a briefing. It was his job now to get everybody over the news of the chemical attacks and back to the task at hand. Nothing was going to do the trick better than a good old fashioned pep talk.

'Right, lads. New plan. This is what we're gonna do...'

Ghost nudged my arm and bent his lips to my ear, 'What the hell did you say to him?'

I grinned and patted his shoulder, 'All I'm saying is that you better get yourself ready, Lieutenant,' I let my eyes wander round the room and noticed the way MacTavish's eyes blazed and the way Archer clenched his hands into fists. A sharp jab of pride stabbed my chest when I realised that they had finally accepted the fact that this wasn't just any war. It had finally sunk in that we were playing the most dangerous game of all time and the ball was in our court.

'Why?' Ghost sounded confused.

A sudden memory of the time that me and Aaron had first gotten to meet Griffen and the rest of that team flashed through my mind. They were such a great group of guys, amazing at what they did, and now their families would have to mourn the fact that they were never coming home. All because of that bastard Russian. I gritted my teeth as I felt my own blood start to boil.

'Because it's finally gotten personal.'

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**_Hey guys! I wasn't going to upload this tonight because I thought it needed a little bit more work done to it, but I probably wouldn't have time to do it in the next few days so... Here is your Christmas present. From me. It's an update! Hope you like it ;) . But as always, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! x_**


	4. Russian

**_Aaaaand I'm back! This might not be the most exciting, action-packed chapter, but I'm trying my best to draw out the plot. In the game, there are far less Task Force missions to go on, so there's a lot of improvising and mixing everything in to match up and ugh. I hope you guys had a good Christmas and an awesome New Year and that you can enjoy this next chapter. Thanks! x_  
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I wanted to stay up after Price had finished his pep talk because there were still alerts coming through on the wesbite about the wave of destruction that was crashing over Europe. I didn't want to miss a single thing, but as soon as Toad had said that I looked like the walking dead, that's when Ghost pushed at me to go and get some sleep. I kicked up a fuss about it, pointing out that there were more important things going on right now than my well being, but that hadn't gone down well.

'We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Mackenzie.' He pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly indicating that he was getting stressed.

'But...' I trailed off desperately, torn between keeping him happy and finding out more about the Russian tanks that were now rolling through Paris.

'That's it.' With a small huff and one easy motion, he had hauled me up and over his shoulder, 'Say goodnight to the guys.'

'Ugh!' I thumped his back weakly, but it had absolutely no effect on him. I let myself go limp, 'Goodnight everybody.' I heard them laughing and wanted to jump down and kick them all. I felt like a damn child. Why wasn't Archer and Toad getting told to go to bed? It was understandable that MacTavish and Price had to power through this, but even Yuri was getting in on all the fun.

Ghost flipped on the bedside light before throwing me down onto the bed. I landed and made an involuntary "oomf" noise, glowering at him as he took off his mask.

'This is so unfair and you know it.' I crossed my arms and watched him pace.

'Kenzie, you've seen what's happening out there. We can't afford to have you out of action because you're too rundown. Keeping yourself awake to watch a computer screen won't do anything. If you want to help, you need to sleep.' He rolled his eyes at me and I looked away quickly, feeling a sharp stab of shame.

'Sorry.' I mumbled, glancing up when I felt him sit down next to me.

He smiled softly and reached up to stroke my cheek. I leaned my face into his palm and let myself relax, 'I have to discuss some things with Price and Soap, but you stay here and get some bloody sleep, okay?'

'Fine.' I grumped, kissing his hand. He went to stand up, but I pushed myself into a sitting position and grabbed his scarf, 'Before you go!' I pulled him towards me and crushed my lips to his. A low moan escaped him and he slowly pushed me back down, covering my body with his own. My stomach twisted and I knotted one of my hands in his hair, deepening our kiss. After a couple of minutes, he bit down gently on my bottom lip then broke it off by pressing his forehead to mine.

'Nice try, Mackenzie.' He whispered, his breath warm on my face. He slid off of me and reached for his balaclava, smirking slightly as he pulled it on, 'Go to sleep.' And just like that, he was gone.

I growled to myself and angrily yanked the covers out from underneath me so that I could snuggle down and get some rest. It was kind of hard now after that and I could tell that it was going to take a while for my breathing to return to normal and for my heart to stop hammering the shit out of my ribcage.

I didn't even realise I had fallen asleep until I opened my eyes to daylight and Ghost. I rubbed sleepily at my face and yawned, propping myself up onto my elbow and letting myself get adjusted to the world around me bit by bit.

When I felt awake enough, I managed to climb out of bed without disturbing Ghost at all - which made me way more proud than it should've - and get changed before going to see if I could find anybody.

The first place I checked was the briefing room and I frowned when I saw only Yuri. He was fiddling around with their equipment, not even paying attention to the computer anymore. He hadn't realised I was here yet, so I still had time to back away and see if I could find somebody else.

_Kenzie..._

Aaron scolded me mentally and I rolled my eyes. Before I could change my mind, I stepped fully into the briefing room and knocked lightly on the door, 'Hey.'

His head snapped round and he relaxed when he saw it was only me, 'Hey.'

'Where is everyone?'

'Still asleep, I presume.' He turned away from me to go back to doing whatever it was he was doing and I sat down in front of the computer, curling my lip in disgust as I scrolled through the news reports.

'So what's the plan then?' I asked in the hope of him filling me in on anything I had missed while I was in bed.

'Nothing yet.' I heard him sigh and peeked round the side of the screen to see him rub his eyes wearily, 'I'm getting a secure line set for Captain Price for when he wakes up. Says he knows someone who can get us intel.'

'Did he say who?'

Yuri shook his head and flicked a switch, then walked over to check the screen, 'It's sad, no?'

'Aye, it is.' I ran a hand through my hair and looked up at him. He shot me a quick hint of a smile and I realised that I really had been too cold about him. If he was going to do anything, he would've done it already, right? And who was I to test Nikolai's judgement? If he trusted him then so should I.

'Can you teach me some Russian?' It was the first thing that came to my mind to help break the silence before it turned awkward.

'Uh, sure.' He frowned and pulled up a seat next to me, 'What do you want to say?'

I gave him an unintentional blank look. I hadn't thought about it at all seeing as it was such a whimsical decision, 'Anything?'

He rubbed his chin for a minute then nodded to himself, 'Okay, learn this.' He cleared his throat then said in his native tongue, 'Меня зовут Блиц. Я друг Николая. Можете ли вы мне помочь?'

'What does that mean?' I didn't realise how in awe I sounded until after I had spoken.

'It roughly translates to, "My name is Blitz. I am a friend of Nikolai's. Can you help me?"'

'Why would I need to learn that?'

'It is a dangerous place out there right now. Being able to say you know Nikolai in our language might just save your life if you ever find yourself in a tight spot.' His dark eyes were serious and I dropped my head into my hands. I wanted to scoff at him and tell him to teach me something cool, but just minutes ago I had told myself that he wasn't a bad guy. I had to make an effort now.

It could've been hours that passed while we sat alone in the briefing room. It had taken me some time, but once I had nailed the main few sentences that were apparently essential, he moved onto some other stuff. Once we had both loosened up around each other, he was easy to talk to and I found myself enjoying his company.

'You two are up early!' Price was the first one to surface and join us. Yuri nodded towards me and I grinned.

'Доброе утро, Цена.' I was surprised with how fluent I managed to make it sound and apparently the Captain was too. He stopped dead and turned his head slowly to look at me, eyebrows raised. I laughed, 'I said good morning, Price.'

'Is that what you two have been doing?' He motioned between me and Yuri and I bobbed my head. Just to prove a point, I recited the first piece he had taught me. I was scared that if I ever needed to use it in a real life situation that I would panic and forget, so I would have to repeat it multiple times a day just to really drill it in and make sure it stayed.

'Very good.' He complimented me while he made his way over to the equipment, 'Yuri, did this work?'

'Yes, Captain Price.' Yuri smiled and stood up to make sure he did it right. I pulled my legs up onto my chair and crossed them. I rested my elbows on my knees, then my chin on my hands and got ready to hear who was going to be helping us.

A couple of buttons were pressed and the sound of a phone ringing was heard from a small speaker. Yuri jogged over and closed the door so that no other ears could listen in to the conversation.

'Hello?' It was a British male that answered and he sounded wary.

'Put me through to MacMillan.' In true Price fashion, he skipped over all the introductions and polite chit chat and got straight to the point.

'Can I ask who's calling?'

'I have intel that you need about the chemical attacks, but there's only one person that I'm gonna talk to about that, so you better put me through to him.' Wait, what? Was I missing something? I uncrossed my legs and stood up slowly. Yuri spotted my confused expression and shrugged. He was clueless too.

There was a pause at the other end of the line while the man weighed his options. After a few excruciating moments, he told us to hold while he made the connection. Price held up a hand, signalling for us to wait and just roll with it. My frown eased up into a grin when I realised that it had only been an excuse to get transferred through.

'Identify yourself.' MacMillan's gruff Scottish voice spoke so suddenly that I jumped.

'Mac. It's John.'

There was a sigh of on the other end of the line and I sat back down, content now that I knew I hadn't been uninformed to anything, 'We put a lot of names on the clocktower this week, lad.'

'It was Makarov.' Price spat, shifting from relaxed to angry in the space of seconds at the mention of more of our soldiers dying in the attacks, 'The bastard slipped through my fingers in Sierra Leone. What does MI6 know?'

'You're on everyone's shit-list, John. There's no way I could get you clearance.'

'Don't give me that! You still owe me for Pripyat. I'm calling it in.'

'Easy, son.' MacMillan seemed to know exactly how agitated Price was getting. It made me curious about their relationship. Apparently something big must've happened in Pripyat and I wanted to know what. MacMillan was quiet for a few seconds, then brought us some relatively good news, 'Alright. We've traced the delivery freighter to an outfit in Basaso, Somalia. It's run by a nasty piece of work named Waraabe. My hands are full with the bleeding at home, so you're on your own. Good hunting.'

The line went dead. None of us said anything, but we all had the mutual thought that it was time for a smoke. While out, Price explained to me about what had happened in Ukraine when I asked. Basically, Price and MacMillan had set out to assassinate Imran Zakhaev, but they only managed to blow his arm off before they got compromised. MacMillan had gotten injured while they were getting away and Price had carried him all the way to the LZ instead of just leaving him for dead.

'You guys go way back then, huh?' I said when we were done.

'You could say that.' Price chuckled and ushered us back into the briefing room where we were away to start laying out our plan of action for Somalia. By the time MacTavish and Ghost had joined us, we pretty much had everything researched and sorted.

'Hey.' I smiled at Ghost and he pushed up his mask so that he could kiss my cheek.

'You guys look like you've been busy.' He stepped round me to assess the pictures we had pinned up next to the map.

'Yup! I even had the time to learn Russian, by the way.' I grinned, way too proud of myself for being able to say that. I still had Roach, Archer and Toad to tell too, so I could only bask in my pride three more times before having to drop it. I was going to make the most of it while I could.

'Really?' He looked down at me, the tone of his voice implying either surprise or disbelief. Looks like I would just have to show him. Huffing in determination, I concentrated hard on the way that Yuri had taught me to say what I wanted to say.

'я тебя люблю.' I smiled as soon as it had slipped from my tongue. A warm feeling pooled my chest and I knew that I would never tire of being able to tell him that, even if it was in a different language.

'I have no idea what you just said, but well done.' He chuckled and put an arm round my shoulder. I shot Yuri a thumbs up and he just laughed to himself. I hope he knew that I was going to hound him again at some point to teach me more. I wasn't fluent in any foreign language. I knew a bit of Spanish, but that was about my stretch. I wanted to learn one properly.

'What's the security look like?' MacTavish came to stand on my other side. He was eyeing up the pictures we had managed to get too and I knew he was probably thinking about what happened last time. We absolutely did not need that sort of trouble again.

'Strictly second division. Local triggermen guard the compound.' Price shrugged like it wasn't that bad. We had all dealt with worse.

'We'll stick out like bollocks on a bulldog. Stealth's not an option.' We hadn't reached that point in our planning yet, so I didn't know what Price had in mind. We turned to look at him and I got a bad feeling when I saw the smirk on his face.

'Then we'll just have to kick in the front door.' He stretched himself out and nodded his head to Yuri, 'Tell Nikolai to ready his men.'

'I better not be having to stay here again.' Ghost moved his arm from my shoulder and spoke directly to Price, who shook his head.

'No, we'll definitely need you this time. What about Roach, is he better?'

'He's still a bit sore.' I pulled my hair back into a ponytail, a reflex reaction when told that we were getting ready to go out on a mission, 'Archer's pretty good at ground assault. We could leave Toad to give Roach company and to stop him bitching about being left behind.'

'That's a good idea, actually. You're smarter than you look.' MacTavish nudged into me when he walked by and I punched at his arm playfully. For a fleeting moment, the atmosphere was so light and cheery, I forgot about everything that had happened to us and about everybody we had lost. It felt just like the old times, and I pictured us walking out of here laughing at MacTavish's lame sense of humour and banging straight into Meat or Ozone fighting about which one could run The Pit faster. I forgot about the fact that we were disavowed and I forgot about the fact that Makarov was winning.

For that one moment, it felt like all the burdens had been lifted, just to be crushed back down with an even stronger force than before. My lip wobbled tearfully and I sniffed hard, not knowing where this sudden burst of emotion had come from. I reached for Ghost's hand and clenched my fingers round his as tightly as I could.

I looked up at him through a watery vision and let my heart swell, then I watched the other three head away to get themselves geared up and I sighed, long and slow. As long as we all had each other, everything would be fine. We would be okay.

_I wouldn't count on it, Short Stuff._

My brow creased and I silently asked him what the fuck he was talking about. He always had been the bigger buzzkill out of the two of us. Old habits die hard, I guess.

_Nothing will be okay until Makarov is dead. Stop fooling yourself, Kenzie. _

With a horrible sinking feeling that made my chest tighten, I realised that he was right.


	5. Return To Sender

_**Guuuuuys... *waves sheepishly* I'm so sorry I haven't updated sooner! I've been sorting out a launch party and gutting my room and ugh, I've not had much time to sit down and write this up, but here it is! I finally got it done. I apologise if it's a bit shit and bleurgh, but I didn't want to keep you guys from an update any longer by fine combing it. Try and enjoy it anyway and thanks for being awesome! x**_

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Somalia. It had never really taken my fancy. It didn't come across as a place someone would want to travel to willingly, but here we were - travelling to it willingly. Though, I guess you could say we were here for business, and since I actually liked the kind of business we dealt in, it was the only thing that kept me happy about coming to this country. That, and the fact that I was fighting alongside Ghost again.

MacTavish seemed to know that I was going to start complaining about how hot and dusty it was because he pointed me in the direction of our transport as soon as we stepped out of the chopper.

'Now this is cool!' I laughed and jumped up into the back of the jeep. Being in the special forces had its perks and this was definitely one of them. I'd only gotten to ride in the back of one of these kind of trucks three times before now and it had been amazing. There was nothing better than feeling the wind in your hair while the adrenaline slowly picked up its pace in its circuit through your blood stream. It meant that you were running into a mission on a complete high instead of going in with a heavy heart and a bad feeling.

Ghost, Yuri and Archer joined me in the back while Price and MacTavish hopped in the front. The speed that Price tore away at made my smile falter and I lurched, grabbing the bar in front of me awkwardly to balance myself. I heard Ghost chuckle quietly and glowered, straightening myself out and turning my back to him. Nobody spoke for some time, not until we were nearing our destination.

'The sand storm's moving in fast. We only have one shot at this.' MacTavish twisted in his seat to address us directly instead of having to scream at us. My head snapped round at the mention of a sand storm. It came into view when we rounded a corner and I tried not to let it bring me down. Our luck had just been terrible lately. It was hard to stop it from taking it's toll.

Price stomped on the gas and I gripped the bar again, ducking my head slightly as we raced along the beach line and up a hill, bouncing onto a straight road next to a stretch of houses.

The sound of a chopper made me glance up though and I heard Soap tell Nikolai to soften them up for us. _This was it_. The four of us in the back all reached for our guns, just waiting for our mark.

'Targets ahead! Engage, engage!' We did as we were instructed. My heart began to pound double time as we approached the gate, knowing that this could all go horribly wrong in the blink of an eye. Despite that, I kept firing until the last second and that's when I absolutely had to duck and brace myself. I felt Ghost's chest against my back as he bent over me protectively, trying to shield me from as much of the impact as he could.

We crashed through the gates and we all jumped out as fast as we could. I found cover behind a crumbling wall until I reloaded and then joined up with the rest of them again. They were moving their way down the road a lot quicker than they normally would and I almost got hit a few times in my haste to keep up.

'Slot these bastards fast!' I heard Soap shout. My brow furrowed and I stepped it up a notch to meet his demands. How bad was this sand storm and how rapidly was it actually approaching? There was a ridiculous sense of pressure pushing down on us and it was threatening to cloud my thoughts and steal my focus.

'They're targeting us with mortars!' Price informed us. I leaned back against the smouldering remains of a car and took a deep, calming breath. Nothing I could do would block out that annoying siren that was ringing through the town, but it was helping me get my head back in the game.

'Nikolai, we need air support!' Soap crouched next to me to reload. His eyes brimmed with worry when he saw my expression and I nodded.

'I'm alright.' I assured him at the same time as Price yelled at us all to move. Waraabe's compound was just at the top of the road. Soap motioned with his head and I immediately followed him. I faltered in my step when we passed Yuri. He was crouched in between two crates, holding a piece of technology that I wasn't familiar with.

'Move, Blitz!' Soap growled through gritted teeth and hauled me away. Over the comms, Nikolai was muttering something about good kills and targets being down. I put two and two together and realised that Yuri had control over the guns on Nikolai's chopper. Feeling a bit more at ease knowing we weren't going to leave without him, I carried on as normal.

Something still felt not right and it was making me queasy. I was scared that I was going to pass out or throw up or maybe even both. But when we all bunched together and I waited behind Ghost while he took out a couple of machine gunners, I managed to steady myself on his very presence alone. Even if this all went to shit, I knew he would make sure we would pull through it.

We managed to take down the last line of defence outside the building and I heard Price tell Echo Team that we were entering the target building. We crept up the stairs and were met with more of this bastard's soldiers.

'Possible visual on Waraabe. 2nd floor balcony.' Nikolai told us. Bravo Team got to work on that, and we got to work with clearing the landing. When they were all dead and we made sure we were all still in tact, Price led us over to where Waraabe's office was. Before we breached it, he warned us to keep our weapons tight and I was disturbingly annoyed by that. I gave myself a few moments to calm down from the rush and to gauge how I was feeling. The roll of anger that rocked through me at the thought of killing this guy was shocking and I knew that Price felt it too. It was easy to tell by the look in his eyes.

When the door exploded, I was the last one in from our team and I was glad to see that they had managed to keep him alive and scared. Price kicked him down onto a couple of containers that held who knows what and told us to put our gas masks on. I made a face before doing so. I hated these damn things. They were creepy to look at and uncomfortable to wear, but if it kept me alive, I really shouldn't have complained.

'Look familiar?' Price pulled the chemical grenade we'd managed to get a hold of out of his belt. He made sure Waraabe got a good look at it before pulling the pin and throwing it in the corner.

'No, no! Please!' I took up stance in between Ghost and Archer so I could get a better view of the way Waraabe begged. He deserved this. He deserved to fear for his life. He deserved to know that he was going to slowly choke to death.

Price held up a spare gas mask and dangled it just out of his reach, 'Where's Makarov? Tell me and it's yours.'

Waraabe reached for it weakly and missed, 'Our contact was a man named Volk! We never met Makarov!'

Soap apparently wasn't too happy with the vague answer and I smirked bitterly when he stormed over and stomped hard on his leg, 'Where's this Volk? Time's running out, mate.'

'Paris!' Waraabe groaned in pain and desperation, 'Paris! He oversaw the delivery in Paris!'

There was a few seconds of silence and I subconsciously held my breath. Price threw him the gas mask and I took an angry step forward, away to bitch him out for just letting him off so easily. Ghost's arm shot out and blocked me from going any further. I was going to turn on him too when Price spoke again, 'Right then. This is for the boys at Hereford.'

Waraabe was still fumbling with his ga smask when the bullet from Price's pistol pierced his skull. I grinned viciously behind my own mask, a little more content knowing that the SAS team hadn't died in vain. We moved out and Nikolai came in to tell us that the sand storm was getting worse.

'That storm is massive.' Soap commented once we had all gotten rid of our gas masks. My stomach sank again when I saw that he was right. I had never seen anything like it in all my years. On the TV, maybe, but to actually have one rolling in on you in real life? I was starting to wish I had just sat this one out.

'The last thing we need is to get caught in that. Let's move.' Price urged us all on. At least the LZ wasn't far from here. It would take us 20 seconds to get there apparently - more than enough time to get out before the storm hit.

'So you think Waraabe was telling the truth about Volk?' Soap asked. Price beat any of us to answering, but I was happy with just letting out a sigh of relief when I saw Nikolai's chopper coming in to land.

A gunshot rang out through through the small clearing and we all dove for cover. Soap yelled "ambush!" at the same time Price told Nikolai to get out of here. Looks like we weren't done fending off these bastards just yet.

A shiver of fear rippled through me and I wanted so badly to check to see if anybody had been hit, but there were so many of them! Every time I poked my head out to get a shot, I was lucky not to have had it blown off my shoulders. Through the comms, Price and Nikolai were trying to sort something out. We had to break for the secondary LZ, but Nikolai wasn't sure if he'd be able to touchdown because of that damned sand storm. I would've normally held a very pessimistic attitude that we'd even be able to meet him there, but going by this Task Force's track record, getting out of here alive was a mere training exercise.

'Price, the winds are getting stronger.' Nikolai sounded strained and I didn't blame him. He was right about the weather. My hair was scraped back from my face as usual, but it was still getting whipped round into my eyes and partially obscuring my vision. It made panic rise in my chest and I tried to channel that into shooting through the resistance we had come up against.

After struggling through, we made it to the secondary LZ, but nothing was ever just that simple anymore.

'The wall! Watch out!' Soap's voice came from somewhere behind me and I dug my heels into the dirt to halt myself, watching on in horror as one of the walls of the building we were heading towards came down with the winds.

'Move fast. I don't know how much longer I can fly in this storm!' I instantly began to feel bad for putting Nikolai through this. I knew it wasn't our fault because of that fucking ambush, but this was ridiculous. I didn't want him breaking his back to get us out of here. I'm sure we would've been able to hold out somewhere until the storm passed... Wouldn't we?

'We can't stop now, Blitz, come on!' I felt Archers hand on my back and I pushed myself to keep moving. I followed them into the building, taking out a few remaining soldiers. The storm was almost on us and the building wasn't holding up very well. Debris flew and we dodged it, walls crumbled and we avoided them, but in the end, it wasn't enough.

We had made it to the top and I was clinging onto the brick structure there when Nikolai got hit. The area was too hot and Yuri wasn't able to get onto the remote turret and clear them in time.

'He's out of control! We've gotta get off this roof!' At this point, I wasn't aware of who was talking or who was trying to haul me back from the side because all I could focus on was the burning chopper crashing straight towards us. A burning chopper that our friend was in. And we couldn't do shit to stop it.

* * *

It had all happened so fast. One minute we were on the rooftop, the next thing we were jumping, then we were finally plunged into the heart of the sand storm.

I was still recovering from being dragged to safety by Ghost. He had been so quick in reacting and by fuck, did he have a strong grip. My wrist would probably bruise in the next hour or two, but he had kept me from getting mangled by that helo, so I guess I could let him off.

It was dark now. Dark and murky and just horrible in general. I felt lost and I felt scared and I knew it was two things I should never ever feel on a mission, but this was different. We were all but blind, hardly being able to see two feet in front of us. Add in the fact that we didn't know if Nikolai was still breathing...

'There's Nikolai's chopper!' I frowned, squinting through the sand. I saw the vague outline and I saw fire. I also saw Waraabe's men, and a lot of them.

'Echo Team, we're approaching your position from the south!' We all bolted towards the crash site, shooting down as many soldiers as we could. The only way we were able to see them was because of the torches they had on their guns to help them see in conditions like this. Considering that it made it easier for us to pick them off, I wasn't entirely sure if they'd thought that idea through properly before making it happen.

When we grouped up with Echo Team, a sigh of relief escaped my lungs when I saw that Nikolai wasn't dead. Deeply wounded, but alive all the same. Ghost went to pull him up and over his shoulder, but Yuri stepped in first.

'Sorry, my friend, but I feel like it's my duty-'

'Yuri, it's fine.' I nodded and smiled to let him know that we understood. Well, I did. I might have to go over it with Ghost when we got back to the base.

'Echo-2, we've got Nikolai! We're heading to the exfil point!' I took that as our cue to move out. We stayed in a tighter formation than usual, watching each others backs and making sure we were all kept on the right track. If one of us strayed away or got lost now, that was it. The chances of being found were next to none.

We came to a ridge and a small smile plucked at my lips. Reflexively, I turned to find Roach and ask for a race to the bottom, but then I remembered he wasn't here. He was safe and sound at the base with Toad, not having to worry about saving injured pilots or getting sand in his eyes.

Archer glanced over at me before we slid down with the rest of them team and he smiled sympathetically. His usual partner in crime wasn't here either. He knew exactly how I felt right now.

'Race you?' I lifted one shoulder in a hopeful shrug and his smile turned into a full blown grin. We got to the bottom at exactly the same time and just as well too - Yuri had just boarded Nikolai onto one of the trucks.

I pushed myself forward into a sprint and leaped up into the back of the one next to them, landing heavily next to Soap. He gave me a nod of acknowledgement and I returned the gesture before searching for Ghost. He was with Price and was now swiftly helping Archer in with them as our drivers all took off.

Once we were in the all clear, Soap and I leaned back at the same time, 'So if Volk's in Paris, how are we getting there in the middle of a bloody war?'

'We can't, but I know someone who can.' Price replied through the comms. I raised an eyebrow at MacTavish, glad to see that he looked as confused as me. His brow stayed furrowed for a few minutes while he racked his brains, trying to think of who this mystery ally could possibly be.

'Oh!' He exclaimed when it came to him. He grinned down at me and a short laugh burst from his lips, 'You're gonna love this.'

'Huh?' I sat up a bit, 'What are you talking about? Who is it?' The dust had eased up just enough so that I could see the twinkle in his eyes and I groaned, 'Don't make me guess, you asshole.'

'I can give you a clue?'

I sighed and turned my face away from him. I couldn't be arsed with any of this right now. However, curiosity soon got the better of me like it always did and I looked back round at him, 'Okay, sure. Give me a clue.'

He grinned widely, 'Operation Kingfish.'


	6. Rest and Recovery

**_Hello my beautiful readers. I don't even know what happened half way through this chapter, so apologies for the word vomit. At least it's an update right? And while I have you, I actually have a question! How would you guys feel about a 'Ghosts' fic? I've been toying around with the idea after my second play of the campaign and my gamer crush on Keegan just won't get any easier to deal with until I get it all out haha. So yeah, tell me what you guys think and enjoy the chapter! x_**

* * *

***Ghosts POV***

**** **I don't know what I had been expecting for my first mission back with the Task Force, but it definitely wasn't that. Everything had been going according to plan and then boom - we had to rescue Nikolai from the heart of a sand storm.

I'd also forgotten how much hard work it was to keep an eye on Mackenzie. She was going to be the bloody death of me, I swear. I had managed to get her off the rooftop just in time, but it wasn't without a price. Apparently it had been too much strain for my shoulder which was still in the final stages of healing. I didn't let any of them see though. I pushed through it all without a single complaint, but I really was glad when Price said he was sending Sandman and his Delta Force team to catch Volk. It gave me time to rest up and get back to full health.

Mackenzie had stayed tucked under my arm the whole way back to base while she tried to catch up on her sleep. She was out like a light by the time we got there and I didn't have it in me to wake her up. Instead, I just carried her in and laid her down onto our bed, watching her sleep for a few minutes.

I smiled behind my mask and gently stroked her cheek. She looked so peaceful and oblivious to everything going on right now and I wanted nothing more than to keep it that way. Maybe when all this had cooled off and our work was finally done, we could settle down somewhere and not have to worry about dying every day.

The thought brought me up short and I stared at her in complete wonder. What had she done to me? I was thinking about giving all this up just to start a life and maybe even a family with this girl.

I shook my head and stood up, adjusting my mask. As much as I wanted to now crawl into bed with her, there was no rest for the wicked. I closed the door quietly behind me and went to find the rest of the team. I found only MacTavish, Price and Roach in the briefing room. Nikolai and Yuri must be over at the medical bay.

'... Uncle Sam's got a kill/capture order on your head.' I had walked in half way through a conversation, it would seem. A tight smile tugged at my lips when I identified the voice over the small speakers to be Sandman's.

'Tell 'em to join the bloody queue.' Price smirked bitterly. MacTavish just shook his head at how casual the old man was about being one of the most wanted war criminals next to that bastard Russian and clicked a couple of buttons on the computer. I strode over and saw that they had pulled up a profile on Volk and were now sending it through to the Yanks that were helping us. 'Makarov's bomb-maker, Volk, is in Paris. We need to act before he bolts and I can't make the window. You're the only one I trust with this.'

'I'm on it.' Good old Sandman. I had been wary of Americans for a long time after what had happened with Washington and Sparks. Even when I met Shepherd, I couldn't find it anywhere within myself to trust a single thing he said. I had been ready to snap his neck at a second's notice if I had to, but when we got put into Operation Kingfish with Sandman and Frost, my opinions changed and my guard slipped. I actually began to feel okay with them at my back. Maybe it was because I didn't have a choice or maybe it was because they had managed to show me that not all Americans were evil, twisted bastards willing to kill someone's entire family just to prove a point. Either way, Sandman had grown on me, and I knew that this job couldn't have been put into safer hands.

'It's weird, isn't it?' Roach commented when the line had been cut off.

'Huh?' I glanced over at him and he stood up slowly.

'Who would've thought that this op would still be active?' He laughed to himself in disbelief and ran a hand through his already scruffy hair, 'It's just weird.'

'There's more of us fighting for this now though,' I sighed and thought about Kenzie, then Archer and Toad. Suddenly, my chest tightened. It startled me at first since I was still getting back into the swing of feeling any sort of emotion, but then I recognised the feeling as sadness.

Out of the entire Task Force, we were the only few that was left. Seven out of a base full. We should've all still been there, just hanging out in the rec room wondering where Shepherd was going to be sending us next. The only thing we had to worry about back then was slipping up on a mission. The only thing on our minds when we woke up in the morning was whether or not that would be the day we caught Makarov. Now? Well every single minute of every day was spent on the edge.

'You okay?' Roach asked. I glanced up and realised that my hands were clenched into tight fists on the table. I relaxed them and stepped back, forcing myself to nod.

'Yeah, sorry.' I blew out a shaky breath and motioned towards the equipment, 'So what now? More waiting?'

Price sighed wearily and nodded, 'I'm afraid so, Lieutenant. I'm afraid so.' ******

* * *

_I don't know where we were. I don't know how we get here. All I knew is that it was cold, we were alone, and we were lined up in front of Makarov. I couldn't move my hands and I couldn't turn my head. I just had to rely on my peripheral vision to see as much as I could._

_He moved to my right and muttered something in Russian. A gun clicked, a shot was fired, a body dropped. My stomach rolled and I struggled to see who he had just killed. Archer? Yuri? I watched the shadow of his figure move closer. Another click, another shot, another body. _

_He stopped in front of whoever was next to me and chuckled darkly, 'Captain Price. I've been waiting a long time for this.' The gun clicked. I held my breath, 'Goodbye, John.' _

I woke up screaming, the sound of that last gun shot ringing round and round my head. I curled in on myself and screamed into my legs this time to try and muffle the sound.

'Kenzie! Kenzie, shh, it's okay, it was only a nightmare.' I was being cradled against someone now and I whimpered softly, keeping my eyes screwed shut, 'Mackenzie, you're okay.'

'Simon?' I sniffed and reached my arms out to wrap them around him. I breathed in his familiar scent and let it soothe me, 'Where is everyone?'

'Sleeping probably.' I heard the smile in his voice and looked up so I could see it for myself. God, I loved that smile. 'What was your dream about?'

'Makarov killed us all.' I said bluntly, dropping my head and leaning it against his chest.

'Hey...' He put one finger under my chin and tilted my face back up, making me look at him. I allowed myself to get lost in those striking blue eyes for a few moments, knowing full well that when I did, I was going to believe every single word that came from his mouth, 'He's not going to kill me. He's not going to kill MacTavish. He's not going to kill Price or Roach or anybody else on this base. And he's definitely not getting to kill you.'

'Are you sure?

'We've made it this far, haven't we?' He frowned slightly and a soft sigh passed through my lips. I lifted one of my hands and laid it over his cheek, just looking at him. Gently, I pushed myself up so I could kiss him instead of giving him a proper answer. His tongue slid along my lower lip as he wrapped me in his strong embrace and I looped my other arm around his neck, pulling myself as close to him as I could.

So quickly that it made my head spin, he flipped us both over and pressed my back into the mattress as he deepened the kiss and tangled one of his hands in my hair. My heart was thundering and I didn't want to stop to think about any possible consequences.

The way he whispered my name against my neck was all it took. He was Simon Riley, _my_ soldier - _my_ _ghost_ - and he was all I needed right now. So with his warm hands and his gentle lips, he helped clear my mind of every thought I had ever had about Makarov, war and death.

Here and now, all that mattered was him.


	7. Mark My Words

**_So after "Bag and Drag", there's only like 2 more missions before you have to try and assassinate Makarov and bad things happen, and I'm trying to put off writing that chapter for as long as possible, so I sat down and wrote up a mission. It might just be a spout of shit, but I tried to write it in a way that it's still important to the storyline and it gives small clues as to how I'm going to try and change "Blood Brothers" . Also, this chapter is really fucking long, and I hope it makes up for the slow updates and the past few chapters. There's a bit of everything in this one, and there are translations at the bottom for the bits of Russian in this that I haven't cleared up before, so yeah, enjoy! x  
_**

* * *

We had a possible lead on Makarov's location, but we were now a group divided. It had been an anonymous caller, and they'd only stayed on the line long enough to tell us where they had seen Makarov and then hung up. As much as Price wanted to go chasing after it, MacTavish had managed to talk him into being wary. I was among the few that didn't care and wanted to check it out anyway. It wouldn't have been the first time I had willingly gone somewhere under false intel, and it probably wouldn't be the last. What if it was a legit call and the information was true? I didn't want to pass that up.

Ghost had tried to coax me out of that mind set, but when I had Roach and Archer in my other ear getting just as worked up about it as I was, he failed dramatically. I loved him, but he was on the side that wanted to sit tight and wait, and right now, that was the side that I didn't even want to look at.

After an hour or two of scheming with Yuri, Archer and Roach, I was the one nominated to go and win Price back round. It had been hard catching him alone without 'Tavish or Ghost hovering around, but I managed to get two minutes in quickly when those two left for a cigarette break.

'Price, listen.' I had decided to go for a straight, bold approach instead of being nice and asking. I figured that this was the kind of attitude that got through to him more, 'We're going to follow up this lead, no matter what either of you say. Yuri's got transport on stand-by and I just wanted to come and make sure you were cool with this before we go and gear up.'

His gaze was intense as he stared down at me. I wanted to back away and tell him not to bother, but I kept myself composed and determined. Eventually he sighed and scratched his beard, 'Make it quick, try stay undetected if possible and don't get yourselves killed. You're running this one, so don't let those idiots tell you otherwise. Am I clear?'

'Crystal.' I held back a face-splitting grin and turned on my heel to leave and get the rest of the group together.

'Kenzie,' Price's hand shot out and caught my arm before I was out the door, 'If you do find the bastard...' He trailed off and he seemed to be struggling to find the words.

I smiled and moved his hand from my arm so I could give his fingers a quick squeeze, 'I'll slit his throat.'

'Good girl. Now hurry up and get out of here before they come back.' He waved me away and I tried not to skip down the halls. I stopped quickly in by the rec room to tell the guys that we had the green light before finding a piece of paper and a pen and writing out a note to Ghost to leave in our room.

_Simon, _  
_I'm sorry, but I couldn't let this go. Please don't get too angry, I promise I'll be careful! I'll be back as soon as I can and hopefully with good news._  
_I love you so much,  
__Mackenzie xx_

I was hoping that he'd find a little bit of humour in the fact that I'd signed it with my full name, but I wasn't going to hold my breath for it. After laying it on the pillow, I ran off to get ready and regrouped with the guys outside. I hadn't been lying when I said that Yuri had transport ready for us, and they were already in the helo and waiting by the time I arrived. I hauled myself up next to Roach and smiled softly.

'Good to have you fighting fit again, bug.'

'Make the most of it.' He sighed and settled himself down when we took off, 'We're all dead men walking.'

'Makarov might not even be there.' I frowned at his attitude, but he just grinned.

'Oh, I know. I'm talking about what's going to happen when we get back.' We all laughed and it eased up the atmosphere. It was weird with just the four of us going out to chase this up. I always imagined having Price or MacTavish leading us when we did this, but we had been given free reign.

As much as I wanted Makarov to be there so we could finish this once and for all, a part of me wished he wasn't. We all spoke a big game, but how many of us here would actually fair up if we came face to face with him? I would like to think that I would do my job and kill him, but deep down, I knew that if that was the case, I wasn't going to make it home.

* * *

'Room clear.'

'Good work. Regroup on me.' I crouched down and reloaded before pushing myself back to my feet and checking round the corner. Still clear. We had made it to the village and so far, we hadn't encountered any heavy resistance. I was starting to think that maybe it really had been false intel. If Makarov was here, why would he leave himself exposed and unguarded?

'Where's he meant to be anyway?' Archer asked when we all came back from clearing out the abandoned houses and alleys along the side of the road. We hadn't come in contact with many civilians, either, which was further belief that this was a complete ghost town.

'The school apparently.' I frowned and rubbed my head, 'Between us all, we've only taken out at least 10 soldiers. This could just be a rendezvous or a drop off point, meaning that Makarov was only here for a flying visit and that's why there's still hostiles patrolling the streets. But, it could also be an ambush, so we have to stay sharp.' It hadn't been the first time I had thought that since we left. As far as our track record went, it wouldn't be totally out of the question and because of that, we couldn't take any chances.

'We should split up.' Yuri glanced around us all, 'Take the school from both sides so there's no point of escape for him if he is there.' I was away to nod and just roll with it, but then I remembered that I was the one who was meant to be taking the lead. Was it really a good idea to split up?

_You four haven't worked closely enough for long enough to do this. Play it safe and stick together. _

'I think we should just go in together. If we've been set up, we don't want to be separated.' I tried to seem authoritative and even though it felt weird and just not me, I think it worked, 'Let's move.' It took us minutes to reach the school. We crouched low behind a fence and scoped it out.

'Three snipers on the roof.' Archer muttered. I read his expression and a sharp jab of worry hit my gut. He didn't understand why there would be three snipers in a place that had so far seemed dead. With a skill I could only wish I possessed, he effortlessly unstrapped his own sniper and in three quick, clean shots, they were down.

'Nicely done.' I whispered. He smirked and bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement.

'Enemy patrol, 2' o clock.' Roach nudged my arm and I trained in on the group instantly. There was six of them.

'What the hell?' I murmured to myself under my breath. A sniper team and a large ground assault. Oh, we were definitely onto something. In a louder voice so that the three next to me could hear, I told them to pick their targets and get on it. Once those six were down, we moved closer to the school and slinked into the bushes beneath the windows. We followed the wall until we came to a fire exit door. Roach tugged at it, but the shake of his head sealed my suspicions.

'I don't know what we're going to find in here,' I blew out a wobbly breath, 'It could be Makarov, or it could just be something that he wants kept safe. We'll try and keep this low-key, but if it comes to it, then it's weapons free, okay?' I waited until they had all nodded before motioning my gun towards the door, 'Roach, set the charges.'

It blew from the hinges seconds later and I covered my head before raising my gun and stepping inside. I imagined what MacTavish would say to me right now if he were here and I smirked when I checked one the classrooms, 'Watch your corners.' I said over my shoulder.

'Do you think he has hostages?' Archer asked as we made our way along one of the corridors.

'Wouldn't we know about that?' I raised an eyebrow when we stopped at a corner. I peered round it and right into the chest of a Russian. I reacted quicker than I thought I would and shoved my gun up towards his face, hearing the satisfying crunch of bone as his nose shattered. I went to shoot him dead before he could cry out and alert more of his friends to our position, but I was too late.

Four of them were already making their way down the stairs, talking rapidly into their wires, probably calling for reinforcements.

'Contact!' I yelled as I shot down the first one. I had to duck quickly behind cover to avoid getting a bullet through my own head. I relied on my team to step up and they sure did. In seconds, the stairs was clear. We thundered up them to meet the next wave of soldiers. This time, we weren't so lucky. Moments later, all I heard was a loud curse and Yuri fell back heavily into one of the classrooms.

'Yuri!' I dropped down next to him and checked him over. There was a bullet hole in his thigh, but as far as my knowledge of wounds went, I didn't think it was fatal. He would be alright if he got the right medical attention. Roach and Archer came back to help him and I took up their positions to stop any of the soldiers coming in.

'We're going to have to fall back, Blitz! He can't walk!' Roach shouted at me. I threw a flashbang down the corridor angrily and gave a sharp shake of my head.

'I'm not leaving now. Get him out of here.'

'We're not leaving you here alone, don't be fucking stupid!' I glanced back quickly and saw the way they were looking at me. I wanted to just knock all of their heads together and make them listen to me.

'I'll be fine.' I all but snarled, 'Now go!' The chances of us all getting hurt or killed would be doubled if we were all distracted by helping Yuri keep going. I was going to finish this, with or without them.

'Blitz, we can't-'

'It's my job to keep you all safe! Go and make sure he gets fixed up.' I leaned round and took down three more Russians - effectively clearing the corridor - before reloading. My team were still watching me, not sure what to do. My anger flared and I grabbed the front of Roach's jacket, 'Get the fuck out of here, Sergeant! That's an order!' I let him go and gave them one last glance before bolting from the room. I could only hope they would now do as they were told.

When I had rounded the corner and they were out of sight and I was all alone, I closed my eyes and thought about the last time I had done this. I had just lost Aaron and the rest of my brothers. I couldn't let that happen to those three. I would rather die here myself than jeopardise their lives any further than I already had.

I didn't allow myself to think about whether or not they had gotten transport back to the base or if one of them had decided to be the hero and come back to help me. I was keeping my fingers crossed that they had just gone home. The only thing I was allowing myself to think about was finding whatever it was that these soldiers were fighting so hard to protect.

And eventually I did. I had poked my head into what I think was an English classroom and before I could turn to check the next room, an arm was around my throat and a cloth was pressed over my mouth and my nose. I struggled for so long, but I just had to take that one gasping breath that knocked me down into the darkness.

* * *

When my eyes fluttered open again, the first thing I registered was that I had been stripped of my armour and my weapons. The second thing was that it was a lot darker than it had been when I blacked out. The third thing was that I was lying sprawled on the floor. I gave myself a couple of minutes to have a slow look around and let my memories come back to me before getting to my feet.

I leaned my shoulder against the wall and rubbed at my head in a pitiful attempt to ward off the pounding headache that I was beginning to feel. I was still in the same classroom I had been jumped in. The only difference was the war criminal sitting on the old rickety desk.

_For the love of fuck, Kenzie, get out of there. _

I felt my entire body go cold and I wanted to run or scream or maybe even both, but I knew by the way he was watching me that he was was searching for weakness. I had just woken up, I was still groggy, I was vulnerable and unarmed. But now really wasn't the time to show fear.

'Ah, just the man I've been looking for.' I tore my hair from it's restraints and shook it out around me like I wasn't bothered in the slightest by his presence, 'You wouldn't be able to tell me if my team got out of here without any problems, would you?'

_Now is not the time to get cocky, you stupid fuck. Think before you speak for once!_

'Unfortunately, yes. I heard it was quite the show,' His voice sent a shudder tripping down my spine and my stomach twisted violently in the most horrible of ways. He cocked his head to the side while he continued to study me, 'But that is what you wanted, no? You needed to redeem yourself after what happened with your fallen comrades before you met with General Shepherd.'

'Excuse me?' My fists clenched by reflex and I shoved myself off the wall, momentarily forgetting who it was that I was talking to. How the hell did he know about that?

'Speaking of our old friend...' He slid from the desk and walked towards me slowly and that's when I almost let myself down. I swallowed back a whimper of terror and had to use strength I never knew I had to keep my knees from buckling, 'You stood against him in the mountains. He almost killed two of his best men, but you, дарлинг*****... You survived.' I automatically went to credit Archer and Toad for their additional help in getting us out of there alive, but I didn't want to drag anybody else into this if I didn't have to.

'So?' I didn't sound so sure and steady anymore. My entire charade was wearing dangerously thin and Makarov was now close enough for me to touch. A chill creeped across my skin and I suppressed another shiver, forcing myself to make eye contact. Against my will, I took a wary step away when I saw what was looking back at me. His eyes... They were so cold, so empty. It was enough to send a bolt of terror straight down to the pit of my stomach. Those were the eyes of someone who had committed the most horrific of acts, who had done the most terrible things. Those were the eyes of someone who had been consumed by so much pain at one point in his life that he had just switched it all off and left himself with nothing but a burning hatred for everyone and everything. There was absolutely no saving this man.

'So it makes sense that you fight with Captain Price.' He hissed the name and my anger pushed its way back through my fear.

'Do you make a habit of underestimating people? What were you expecting instead?' The words shot from my tongue and I don't know why I let them. All it earned it me was a slap across the face that was forceful enough to knock me back to the floor. I touched my cheek lightly and pulled up the faces of everyone I had grown to love in the Task Force. If he was going to kill me, I wanted to die happy.

'I know more about you than you think, Mackenzie Stone.' Makarov grabbed a handful of my hair and hauled me back to my feet. The faces of my friends slipped away from me when he slammed me back against the wall. The breath tore from my lungs, but it didn't seem to faze him at all, 'As much as I would love to cut every single inch of your skin just to hear how you would beg for your life, I heard about the missions you did with Aaron Williams. I could make great use of you.' Just the very fact that he had even dared bring up my years with Aaron was almost too much for me.

'Fuck yourself.' I spat in his face and he gritted his teeth, obviously trying to keep his temper under check. Slowly, he wiped my saliva from his cheek and then viciously moved his grip from my hair to my throat.

'Tell me, дарлинг*****, how would Lieutenant Riley react to seeing you suffer?' I stopped struggling and looked him dead in the eye. The terror I had felt just minutes ago settled itself even further into my stomach when I saw how he had changed. Those bottomless, hollow eyes were now blazing with fury, darker, yet more fiery than anything I had ever seen before. I was sure that he was going to just snap my neck here and now, but he just smirked. At the mention of Ghost, he had gotten my attention and he knew it, 'How would Captain Price react to seeing your bones break? Or how would Captain MacTavish react to seeing you bleed?' The last one struck the strongest chord and I lashed out in pure rage. I lifted one of my legs and kicked as hard as I could.

It must've caught him off guard because he actually stumbled a bit and I felt his grip loosen. I saw the opportunity and I didn't hesitate to take it. I grabbed at his wrist and slipped from his fingers, twisting his arm up behind his back. I knew that I didn't have the power to keep him up like this and I had to act fast. On impulse, I used all my body weight to throw us both to the ground where I would have a better change at getting the advantage. He flipped me back off of him and went to grab for me again, but with a shriek of rage, I took a handful of his hair and slammed his head to the floor. I stumbled to my feet and glanced behind me only once to check that he wasn't moving and bolted for the door.

I thought the corridors were deserted, so I wasted no time in flying down them. When I reached the stairs, I almost tripped and fell in my haste to get away, but I was lucky that there was a railing for me to steady myself on. I rounded the corner sharply and ran into one of Makarov's soldiers. He hadn't been expecting me, so at least I had the element of surprise. Before he could react, one of my fists collided with his jaw. It threw him off balance for a few seconds - just enough time for me to snatch his gun from his hands and plant a bullet through his heart.

_Just keep running, Z. Keep running and don't fucking stop. _

For that one fleeting moment, I had considered going back to find Makarov now that I was armed, but there was a high possibility that he would now have his own weapon. Add in the fact that he had God knows how many soldiers ready to do his bidding and my gear was still inside. It wasn't worth the risk.

I kept running until the village was far behind me and my lungs were burning. Every muscle in my body was screaming at me to stop, but I couldn't. I was gasping for breath and I was sure I was going to pass out, and then I heard the sound of a truck. I collapsed down into the cover of the bushes lining the road and waited. I squinted through the shrubbery and my heart jumped when I saw that it wasn't the Ultranationalist uniform. If I was right, that was Loyalist gear.

Deciding that this was a risk I definitely was willing to take, I left my stolen gun in the bushes and jumped out in front of them, raising my hands above my head and slowly sinking to my knees. I heard various guns click and glanced up to see one of them climbing out to come closer.

'Государственный свой бизнес, незнакомец.*****' It was hard to think when all you could see was the barrel of a gun.

My lips quivered and I concentrated hard on that one morning I had with Yuri in the briefing room. I closed my eyes and remembered the way he had said it to me. I concentrated on my tongue and how it had to roll out the right words and I concentrated on my mouth and how it had to move to form the right sentence. I hadn't believed him when he had said that this would save my life one day, but at this exact moment in time, I had never been so thankful that someone had been so thoughtful.

'Меня зовут Блиц. Я друг Николая. Можете ли вы мне помочь?' I barely felt the relief that washed through me when I opened my eyes and saw them lower their weapons.

'I see Russian is not your native tongue, friend.' The one that had gotten out of the truck offered me a hand and I grasped it tightly. He pulled me up and my legs wobbled, 'We know Nikolai. Come and wait. We will tell him you are here.' He barked something else in Russian and the one who had been sitting in the back helped me up so I could have a seat. He also offered me his jacket after telling me in very shaky English that I needed it more than him.

When the friendly one who spoke it more fluently had finished arranging transport for me, he asked me what had happened. I told him a shortened version, outlining the vague details and emphasising that Makarov definitely was in the village, but I wasn't sure if he was still there.

The entire time, I couldn't get his face out of my head. It was those _eyes_. I could live for a hundred more years and never see anything that will scare me more than that. It was like I had looked into the eyes of Satan himself and saw the deepest pits of Hell. Yet here I was.

He had known my name. He knew about my old squadron. He knew about my missions with Aaron. It was obvious that he knew Price and MacTavish, but Ghost? It made me wonder if he knew everything about everyone on the Task Force that was hunting him down. He said he could make use of me, and I knew exactly what that meant. I could've played him for a damn fool if I hadn't gone and knocked him out. He would never trust me now.

A helo eventually came into view and I stiffly moved from my position on the truck, handing the soldier his jacket back with a small smile and a quick thanks. The one who had called for my transport helped me out of the back and onto my feet. My body had came down from the aftershock of my mad sprint so I was more steady on my feet now, but he still kept an arm round my shoulder as he walked me towards the helo.

It wasn't Nikolai who stepped out, but I still recognised his face. He was the one who had rescued us from the mountains after Shepherd shot Ghost and Roach. He smiled warmly when we approached and I managed a tight smile in return.

'I am glad you are okay, my friend!' The friendly Loyalist patted my arms before letting me go, 'I hope to see you around in days to come. Maybe one day we shall fight together to stop all this, eh?' He boomed a laugh and that got a more genuine response from me.

'Благодарю.' I had made an effort to remember how to say "thank you" in his own language while waiting. I thought he would appreciate it more and by the way he grinned, I was right. He waited until I was belted up and comfortable and had taken off in the helo before heading off back to his team. I thought I would feel grateful for their kindness, but I felt nothing. The pilot pressed for conversation the entire journey home, but all I could give was one word answers. I hated myself for sounding so blunt, but I couldn't bring myself to find any sort of emotion. I felt numb.

What felt like hours and hours later, I peered out and saw our base come into view. As we descended, I made out figures and faces. A small spark of relief pricked me when I saw Archer and Roach. Even Yuri was out, even though he was supporting himself on a crutch. None of them moved when I climbed out and I looked down at myself.

'Oh, that's right.' I muttered under my breath. The last three of them had seen of me, I had been wearing all of my gear and my hair was scraped back neatly. Now I was without armour and my tank top and cargo trousers were spattered with the blood of the guard I had murdered with his own weapon. Gently, I reached up to run a hand through my hair and felt all the knots there from my run in with Makarov.

_And here was me thinking you were old enough to look after yourself. You're a mess, Z! _Aaron's weak attempt at humour barely made my lips twitch but as I brushed myself down, I shrugged and spoke openly to him.

'This wouldn't have happened if you were still here, asshole.' That was when Ghost took a step forward and my head snapped up. He pulled his sunglasses off so he could meet my eyes and I saw the worry shining in his own. I managed to force the tiniest of smiles for him before walking towards him and straight into his embrace.

'Mackenzie,' His voice was low and reflected the anxiety I had seen in those beautiful, beautiful eyes, 'Are you okay?'

'No.' I replied simply. I knew that my mind had gone into a default setting to protect me from myself, but it wasn't going to last. I felt numb and nonchalant now, but the wall that had built itself up was going to come down at some point. I pulled away from Ghost and looked up at him. I would need him later more than anything, and I tried to tell him that without actually speaking the words and I wasn't sure, but I think he understood. He gave a small nod and I turned my head towards the rest of the team, but I kept my fingers curled in Ghost's jacket.

'What happened, lass?' MacTavish lifted his hands just to let them drop again, looking just as defeated as I was. I glanced back up at Ghost and he nodded again, pushing my back gently. Yeah, he definitely understood. MacTavish held his arms open and I fell into him. The second I did, the wall crumbled and the tears glazed my eyes instantly.

'I was with Makarov.' I choked out. Just the sound of his name was enough for the tears to spill, 'I'm so sorry.' I sobbed into MacTavish's neck, clutching at him tightly to try and stop myself from shaking.

'Shh, it's okay, don't apologise.' He rubbed my back and I buried my face in his shoulder, trying to use him to block out all of the horrible things that had happened. In that very moment, I was nothing but a scared little girl running to her father to help her stop the nightmares. Growing up, I had always looked towards MacTavish to save me from the monsters in the closet whenever he was over. All these years on and nothing had changed.

Everybody waited in silence and just let me get it all out before even attempting to get me back inside. When I decided I wanted to move, they steered me towards the rec room and somebody went about making me coffee. I sat down onto the sofa and pulled Ghost down with me so that I could curl up into him.

'What did he do to you, kiddo?' Price asked when he handed me the cup of coffee. I sipped at it and stared at the blood on my trousers. I wanted to tell him - I wanted to tell all of them -, but I couldn't find the words. Everything he had said and all the things that he had made me think about. _Those fucking eyes_. The feeling of his fingers closing round my throat.

MacTavish tried next and all I could do was shake my head. I took a gulp of my drink and welcomed the way it scalded my throat.

'Mackenzie...' Ghost grasped my chin gently and turned my head up towards him. I gasped quietly and my gaze flickered down to his hand, just to make sure I wasn't imagining things. His balaclava really was scrunched up on his lap and his face really was exposed to the rest of the team, 'What did he do to you?'

That's when I realised he wasn't asking as Ghost. He was asking as the one who understood absolutely everything; the one who had been captured and tortured into insanity. He was asking as Simon, and he didn't care who was watching.

Without taking my eyes from his, I began to tell them the story, starting from Yuri getting shot. I told them that I ordered Roach, Archer and Yuri to go home so I could carry on alone. I told them about the chloroform and I told them about waking up to Makarov. I told them word for word what he had said to me. I told them how I had managed to get him down and get away. I stared crying round about that point, knowing full well that I had the chance to kill him, but instead I had run away.

'You were alone and unarmed.' Ghost cupped my cheek with one of his hands, 'That would be too much to ask of anyone.'

'I could've hit him harder.' I wiped feebly at my eyes and one corner of his mouth tugged up into the cutest half smile.

'I'm just glad you're still here.' He leaned forward and kissed my forehead gently enough to bring colour to my cheeks. I finally ripped my gaze from his and looked around the room. Price looked like he was ready to burst, MacTavish looked disgusted, Roach looked disappointed, Yuri looked guilty and the snipers were just looking at each other with an expression I couldn't figure out. The thing is, they probably knew exactly what the other one was trying to say. I still hadn't worked out if it was cool or annoying yet.

Price broke first and stood abruptly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his cigar. Before he stormed out in a rage, he kneeled before me and took one of my hands into his in a rare moment of affection. With his other hand, he took his hat from his head and plopped it down on top of mine. He squeezed my fingers and looked me straight in the eye, 'I'll make sure he hangs for this, Kenzie. You mark my fucking words.'

* * *

*** дарлинг - darling/sweet one.**

*** Государственный свой бизнес, незнакомец - state your business, stranger.**


	8. Bloodlust

**_This is probably going to be the last filler chapter before "Blood Brothers". The next one's gonna start with the team heading out to kill Makarov. I was hoping to hold it off for a little longer, but I'm not dragging this is on just to protect my feels. So enjoy! x_  
**

* * *

***Ghosts POV***

**** **_'Here is where you tell me where Roba is.' _

_'Fuck you, English! Kill me, torture me, I will not talk.'_

_I smirked at how sure he was of that and went to work with securing his wrists to the chair, 'It's like Vernon once told me... There isn't a man alive that doesn't have a breaking point.' I stood up to admire my handiwork and slowly walked over to the light switches, running my fingers gently along the wall as I went, 'Your mistake with me was that I'd reached mine a long time ago. I was already broken, mate. Though, you might call me more of a high-functioning wreck. Half of me's been dead more than twenty years. Now that I'm all dead though...I'm feeling much better.' I flipped the switch and the room was suddenly filled with annoyingly soft Hawaiian music. I suppose it was rather fitting for the way they had painted the room to look like a tropical beach. I couldn't even remember if I had made it this far - it had all been too much of a painful blur. _

_My next stop was the box full of drugs and needles that was sitting open on a table pushed up against the far wall, 'Was this what Sparks was trying to get back to? I guess it seems better with some of these...' I tilted my head slightly as I read what was printed on the syringes, 'Psychedelics, opiates, tamazepam, benzilate...' I picked up three and slid them between my fingers before turning back to Gilberto. I grabbed his chin roughly with my free hand, 'Why go through with all this Doctor Who business? An awful lot of trouble for something.' _

_'It's too big for you, dead English. I tell you nothing of El Gordo's plan.' He spoke strongly, but I could almost smell the fear radiating from him. Maybe I would've felt bad for him a few years ago. Hell, back then I wouldn't have even dreamed of doing this, but this is what they had made of me. They did this. I had nothing to lose anymore, and the only thing that mattered was killing Roba. _

_'All I need you to tell me is where he moved. Beyond that, I prefer to get my information straight from the horse's mouth.' I grinned in his face and held up my fist, making sure he saw the needles that I was clenching between my fingers, 'Hm... I suppose your brain hasn't been properly prepared for this stage, so we'll just wing it.'_

_I felt absolutely nothing but a sick satisfaction as I drove the syringes straight into his eyes. _

I jerked awake and immediately reached for Mackenzie. She wasn't in bed and the sheets were cold. I would go and look for her in a moment, but before I did, I needed to clear my head.

It had been a few days since Kenzie had come back and told us about her encounter with Makarov. Ever since, I had been having different nightmares, different memories. The night's I had dreamed about when I had killed Sparks and Washington, she had been right here to calm me down and wipe the sweat from my brow, so where was she tonight?

With a low growl, I swung myself out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweats and a shirt. I automatically went to reach for my mask, but I let my fingers slide past it and shook my head. I had nothing to hide from anybody in the Task Force anymore. On the day Kenzie came back, I hadn't known how else to get through to her. She wasn't talking to anybody and I hadn't even thought about it until my balaclava was off and her jaw had dropped. Thankfully, nobody had brought it up and if they knew what was good for them, it would stay that way.

The base was quiet and I checked every room before I found her outside. I stopped and just watched her for a few minutes, trying to figure out what was going on in that pretty little head of hers. She was sitting on the damp grass with her face tilted up towards the moon. From my position, I could see the way her eyes gleamed under the light and how she seemed to be holding herself perfectly still. Fuck, she was so beautiful. My blood boiled again when I thought about the fact that Makarov had even dared to put his hands on her. For about the hundredth time since that day, I thought about all the ways I could make him suffer if I got to him before Price or Soap did...

I couldn't stand back from her touch any longer and reached her in four long strides. She didn't move when I approached, but her mouth quirked up into a small smile when I sat down behind her and curled my arms around her waist.

'Do you ever think about how small we are?' She motioned her hand vaguely towards the sky, 'We're all so tiny, but we walk around like we're mightier than God himself. Not that I'm religious, but it's just...' She sighed and dipped her head, 'Sorry, I have a lot on my mind.'

'It's okay.' I gently pulled her hair away from her neck so I could press my lips against the skin beneath her ear. I felt her shiver and she moved her head so she could look up at me. I stroked her cheek lightly, 'What are you doing out here?'

'Thinking. Did you have another nightmare?' She leaned into my palm and I swallowed hard when I remembered why I had needed her in the first place.

'Yes.'

'What was it this time?' She kissed my hand before linking her fingers through mine and leaning back against my chest to continue watching the sky.

I rested my chin on her head, 'It was when I was looking for Roba in Coahuila. I was waiting six weeks for one of his right hands, Gilberto, and then I got him.' I bit my tongue, not wanting to scare her. Killing Washington and Sparks had been nowhere near as gory as what had happened that night with the Mexican. I didn't want her to look at me and see the monster that I did.

'You can tell me, you know.' She squeezed my hand and tilted her head back to flash me a reassuring smile, 'I'm not disgusted by what you did and I'm not scared of who you are. I did some pretty fucked up things to finish that mission in Afghan, so I can't really judge. I thought we'd covered this, Ghost.'

'Sorry.' I tried to picture Mackenzie without her trademark personality. I tried to picture her wearing a cold hard smile before she slowly and painfully tore the life from someone. I tried to picture her with dead, hollow eyes and a voice with no emotion. I tried to picture her without compassion or mercy and it only made me love her more. She knew what it was like to have her world crumble, she knew true bloodlust and she knew what it felt like to completely shut down if that's what it took to get the job done, 'You're amazing.'

She giggled and twisted in my arms, 'Thank you, but you're not getting out of this that easily, Mister Riley.'

I rolled my eyes and pulled her towards me for a kiss, 'Are you sure?'

'Positive.'

'Fine...' I sighed and started to tell her what I had done that night just for the information I needed to catch Roba. I was always waiting for her to gasp or pull away from me and tell me that I needed help, but she didn't so much as flinch. She surprised me further by giving a short laugh when I was done.

'The bastard got what was coming to him.' She lifted my hand and traced one of the scars there. I let her play with my skin for as long as she felt content and listened to her breathing softly. I leaned my cheek against her shoulder and closed my eyes, letting her relax me bit by bit, but then her breathing became uneven and I heard her sniff hard.

'Hey, what's wrong?' I pushed her back so I could see her better and she just shook her head, 'Mackenzie, we're not doing this again. What is it?'

'I can't talk about it, okay? We better get some sleep, come on.' She stood abruptly and tucked her hair behind her ears before wiping at her face. I frowned and jumped up with her, asking her one more time what was wrong.

'It's nothing, Ghost!' My eyebrows shot up at how suddenly her mood had shifted and I was starting to wonder if it was something I had said. Did she finally realise it was all too much for her to deal with? She stayed cold and distant until we got back to our room where she apologised sheepishly for snapping and assuring me that it wasn't anything I had done. I believed her, but it didn't stop me from worrying.

When I woke in the morning, once again, her side of the bed was empty. This time, I did yank on my balaclava before facing the day, knowing that I would probably need it. I found everyone in the cafeteria, but frowned when I saw that Mackenzie and Price were sitting in the corner, out of everyone's way.

'What's going on with her?' Soap asked as I sat down with a bowl of cereal.

'I was going to ask you the same question.'

'Well, I do have a theory...'

'Which is?'

'It's nothing solid because neither of them will tell me anything about it, but they're definitely up to something. They've been nattering away at every chance they've gotten since she came back.' Soap glanced back over his shoulder and shook his head, 'I don't like it.'

I spooned some cereal into my mouth and chewed slowly while I watched them. I didn't like that either. Price and Mackenzie, together and scheming? This couldn't be good. ******

* * *

'Have you thought anymore about it?'

'Yes.'

'And?'

'I'll help you.' Price's eyes were tight when he said it, and I knew he wasn't happy about this, but the thirst for Makarov's blood was too strong for him to ignore. I wanted to jump up and hug him and start planning immediately, but we were in the cafeteria and I didn't want to attract too much attention. Nobody else could know, 'What you're asking though...'

'I know, Price, but I promise you that I can do this.' I leaned forward and tried to show him with my eyes how serious I was.

'Kenzie, the last time we sent somebody in undercover, Makarov made him shoot up an entire airport full of civvies and then he killed him. You're asking me to put you on a suicide mission, you understand that right?'

'Completely.' I folded my arms over my chest and tried my best to hold eye contact.

'What about Ghost?' Price's expression softened and my heart squeezed, 'He loves you, kid. You could have a life together, a good life. Long and happy. You're willing to throw that away just to try and set up Makarov?'

I ground my teeth together and dipped my head while I thought about how I was going to word my next sentence. I'd thought about that plenty of times, and it was something that had always played on the back of my mind, even before joining the Task Force and meeting Ghost. I'd always thought I would want that happy life with a husband and children, but now I realised how petty it all was compared to the bigger picture. This thing with Makarov had just sealed the deal, and there were always going to be people like him that needed taking down a notch.

'I'm scared of that, Price. Having kids and getting old. I don't want to be drooling in a wheelchair while someone else runs around doing everything for me. I don't want to die in a hospital bed with a bad heart or a horrible disease while my kids go out of their way to come and cry for me. I'd rather go down young and fighting for something that matters. I'd happily take a bullet right now if it was for the greater good.'

'You sound like a fucking martyr.'

'Is that such a bad thing?' I scoffed, 'Long story short, yes, I am willing to throw away the rest of my life to set up Makarov.' He didn't say anything for a long while, and I laid one of my hands down on the table to get his attention, 'I know you understand where I'm coming from, old man. You just don't want to feel like you're stabbing MacTavish in the back.'

He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, 'You're a piece of work, you know that?'

'I sure do.' I grinned, 'When the time comes, they'll understand too, don't worry. But for now...'

Price sighed again and scraped his chair back, 'Briefing room. 1900 hours.'

'See you there.' I grinned after him as he left, but my expression dropped when I watched him clap a hand to MacTavish's shoulder and give Ghost a nod on the way past. I quickly averted my gaze and picked at the bagel I hadn't even thought about eating yet.

It was tearing me up inside, but I had to do this. I hadn't told Ghost or MacTavish or anybody else because I knew they would flip some serious shit. I went to Price because I knew that he was going to be the only one who was willing to even think about helping me. And now he had made up his mind, there was no turning back.

He had told me that as smart as I was in getting out of there instead of doing whatever it was Makarov wanted me to do, it had been stupid in the sense that it had propelled me up on his hit list. He hated Price and was trying to rip his life apart simply because he hated him. I couldn't deal with anymore pain or loss, so I had decided to give all of it up before he could even think about taking it away.

If handing myself over to him and telling him to just pull the fucking trigger and end me was the only way to do that, then I was more than ready to meet my fate.


	9. Blood Brothers

**_Fuck, this was probably worse than writing Loose Ends. It's such a key mission and I really tried my best to do it justice. And it was ridiculously hard to twist it all together to fit in properly and ugh you don't even understand the stress this caused me haha. But here ya go! Enjoy! x_**

* * *

***Ghosts POV***

****** Mackenzie was gone. She had been there when we were on the line to Sandman, but when we had come back to go over the finalised plans afterwards, she was gone. I wasn't the only one who noticed either. MacTavish was wearing a frown the entire time and seemed more than distracted and Roach kept glancing over towards the door, hoping - like me - that she was going to waltz in and call us out for not waiting until she had arrived, but she never did.

I listened on in silence as we were told where we going and what we would be doing. I studied Price's every move, and he gave absolutely nothing away, but I knew that he knew where Kenzie was. When everyone else left to go and gear up, MacTavish and I stayed, probably with the same idea in mind.

'Where's Mackenzie?' I asked first. Price glanced up and realised we were both still here. He merely shrugged and carried on tidying up behind himself. I turned to look at MacTavish and he visibly sighed before standing up and striding over to the Captain.

'Price, what has she done?' They stared at each other for a long time before Soap smirked bitterly, 'Don't give me that look. I watched her grow up, old man, I _know_ her. You two are up to something and you need to tell us right now what it is.' I got to my feet when he hesitated, stepping forward to stand by MacTavish.

'You really want to know?' I saw Price's eyes flash and a bad feeling settled itself in my stomach. I swallowed hard and nodded anyway. He glanced down at his watch and then over at the map on the wall, 'Right now, she should almost be in Prague.'

'You sent her out alone?' Anger seized me and as much as I wanted to lunge forward and throttle him, I planted my feet and forced myself to stand still.

He continued to gaze at the map and then looked at his watch one more time before sighing and shaking his head, 'She won't be alone.'

'Who did you send with her?' MacTavish grabbed Price's shoulder and turned him back round fully to face us, 'What's going on, Price?'

'She's with Makarov.' He pushed Soap's hand away roughly, 'Look, she didn't want you to find out this way, either of you. She's trying to lull him into a false sense of security by handing herself over.'

'Did you not hear about what happened to Allen?' I balled my hands into fists and blinked away the red mist that was drifting down over my eyes.

'I did, but she understood perfectly what she was doing.' He sighed again and he looked at us both with sad eyes, 'You know, we thought there might have been a chance she could just kill him and get out. Regroup with us somewhere safe, but after we spoke to Sandman and we had a clearer idea of what was going to happen, it was her that made the choice, not me.'

'What choice?' MacTavish's face was hard, but I didn't miss the way his voice cracked at the end.

'Kenzie left with explosives. I've given my friend Kamarov a heads up and he's going to help her get set up and then send her away to where she can find Makarov while he's still en route to the hotel.'

'She's going to blow herself up?' I felt the colour drain from my face and I took an uneasy step back, trying to find something to support myself against.

'No. There's a chance that this could go wrong, and we all know that, right? She's planting explosives in the hotel so that even if we don't get that bastard, she still can.'

'She's giving us a head start.' MacTavish dropped his head when it finally sunk in and I wanted to reach out to him, but even I didn't understand what kind of pain he must be feeling, 'So fucking typical.'

'I'm sorry, Soap.' Price patted his arm once and then looked up at me, 'If it makes you feel any better Lieutenant, the last thing she told me was to look after you. Seemed pretty serious about it, too.'

A lump pushed its way up into my throat and I nodded once, not trusting myself to speak. I should've been livid with her. I should've wanted to run to Prague after her and break her skinny little neck for being so irresponsible and reckless, but I couldn't find it in me. When it came to it, she had run out to greet death with a smile just to make sure we didn't fail completely. It was such a Mackenzie thing to do, and I was glad she hadn't said goodbye. It helped me imagine that she had just popped out for a smoke or was still sleeping in our bed or getting Yuri to teach her more Russian.

Anything was better than believing that she wasn't coming back. ******

* * *

So far, the plan was going absolutely perfect. The explosives were set up in strategic points throughout the first floor of the hotel so that if anything went wrong, we were still in for a chance of killing that bastard Russian. Kamarov knew my face now and he had promised to help me get out safely once the job was done and Makarov was dead, but that was if - and only if - the rest of the team managed to pull off the assassination without a hitch.

The only thing that had set me back was thinking about Ghost. I had been waiting for Makarov's convoy when I remembered the conversation I had had with him after my first mission in the Task Force. I had told him that I was scared of meeting the right guy because I didn't want to throw away the rest of my life over a job. And that was exactly what I was doing right now. If he remembered that, what was going to go through his mind? He had lost so much, and now I was tearing myself away from him too. It had almost broken my resolve and made me slink back into the shadows and forget about the plan entirely, but with a little push from Aaron, I fought against everything and pulled a veil down over my emotions for the time being. Now was not the time to be cowardly. Now was not the time to have second thoughts. Now was not the time to be distracted by own heart.

It had also helped me pull off lying straight to Makarov's face. When he had stepped out of his car with two of his guards, I had looked into the eyes that had filled me with such an awful feeling of dread before, and I felt nothing. I had handed him my weapons and I had let him tie my wrists behind my back and I let him force me into the back of the car without even flinching.

'I'll be honest, дарлинг, I didn't expect to see you again so soon.' Was the first thing he said to me when we started moving again.

'Let's just say that I had a change of heart.'

'What of the rest of your team? Where are they?'

'I don't know.' I shrugged and watched the city roll by through tinted windows. I heard a gun click and checked it out from the corner of my eye. He was pointing a pistol at my head, not believing that I was clueless to the Task Force's position.

'Where are they?' He asked again, tilting his head slightly. I wanted to laugh when I realised he was searching for the flickers of fear I had shown the last time he had seen me. Aaron's face flashed by the forefront of my mind, a cold, cruel smile of his own playing on his lips. He was the one who had taught me how to control my emotions, how to switch them off, how to turn them in my favour, no matter the situation. Right now, the only thing I needed to show was attitude, and he was doing a great job of helping me with that.

I shifted in my seat and moved away from Makarov's gun for a fraction of a second before turning back towards him and pushing my forehead against the muzzle. He raised one brow in mild curiosity at my sudden boldness and I kept steady eye contact when I repeated myself, 'I. Don't. Know.'

He retracted the pistol and tucked it back into his jacket, 'You are different, дарлинг. It suits you.'

'Благодарю.' I smirked when I saw surprise flash across his sharp features. He didn't talk again after that, and I was happy with the silence. I allowed myself a few seconds to wonder if the guys really were all set up yet, but then I shoved them back behind my mental veil. I didn't want to think about them right now.

We eventually rolled to a stop and my stomach threatened to twist violently. I closed my eyes briefly and lost myself in a sudden memory that jumped to mind.

_'So who are we tonight then?' I asked as I unclicked my seatbelt and stepped out of our hired car, leaning against the door and looking up at one of the swankiest hotels I had ever set eyes on while I waited for Aaron to lock up and come round my side._

_'I am a very rich and very successful businessman with a lot of connections, and you're my trophy wife who I'm probably cheating on with some whore I met at the office. Handle that?' He adjusted his tie and held out his arm for me. _

_'I don't think I can. When were you gonna tell me about her?' I linked my arm through his and ran a hand down my thigh to make sure that my knife was still strapped subtly beneath my dress. _

_'When you caught us on the couch.' He grinned down at me and then turned serious as we started to walk slowly up the steps, 'Remember who we're looking for?' _

_'Yup. I feel kinda bad about this one though. He seems so nice and friendly, like a Grandpa.' _

_'Then turn it off.' He glanced down at me with a soft smile, 'It's that simple, Z. If you don't want to feel bad... Don't.' _

_'Just like you taught me?' _

_'Exactly like I taught you.' _

I was jerked back to the present by Makarov tugging roughly at my restraints. I curled my lip and went to kick him away, but then I realised he was untying me.

'What are you doing?' I asked.

'I'm trusting you.' He rolled down the window on his side and and spoke rapidly to one of his guards in Russian before waving him off. I saw him look up towards the old clock tower before putting his window back up. We started moving again, but I hardly felt it. He had looked right at MacTavish and Yuri. _He knew what was going on_.

'Right then, дарлинг. Let's get this over with, shall we?' Everything happened so fast after that. I was shoved out of the car and was met by Kamarov, who greeted Makarov like an old friend. He didn't even get a reply before a sack was pulled down over his head and he was dragged over towards the elevator. My veil fluttered and threatened to tear, and I scrambled to keep it up. If I let it down now, I was done for. So instead, I followed behind with a blank expression, trying to detach myself more and more from any sort of emotion I should've been feeling at the sight of Kamarov getting secured to a chair and the fact that Makarov now had his comm that was linked in to the Task Force's frequency.

'You should do the honours, Miss Stone.' He handed me some C4 and I swallowed hard as I walked over towards my new, and soon to be deceased, ally. I hesitated for a moment, which was probably a bad idea, and heard Aaron snarl at me in my head.

_Turn it off! You're gonna die if you don't, Kenzie. _

I clenched my teeth together and strapped the C4 to Kamarov's body, managing to only feel a tiny spark of emotion as he was shoved back into the lift and the button was pressed to send him to the second floor. I pedalled back further into my shell of numbness when I realised that Price was up there right now.

Makarov laid a hand on my shoulder and I barely even winced when he guided me back slowly to the opening of the garage.

'Captain Price...' He spoke into the comm as we walked and he produced a remote, 'Ад ждет вас.' The building rumbled above us as he detonated the C4 I had planted on Kamarov. It took a few seconds for me to process the fact that Price had probably just been blown to pieces and when the image presented itself to me, my veil shredded into a thousand pieces and I stumbled over my own feet and fell to my knees as a rush of grief tore through me.

Makarov wrapped his fingers round my arm and hauled me back up into a standing position, then grabbed my chin and directed my head up towards the clock tower, 'Yuri, my friend. You never should have come here.'

'Wait, what?' I ripped myself away from him, running forward a couple of steps. Before I could even question the fact that Makarov knew Yuri, I had to watch on in complete and utter horror as the tower they were in exploded and crumbled, '_No!_' A million different layers of shock and pain filled my chest and I choked out a strangled sob, 'MacTavish...' I gasped quietly, clamping a hand over my mouth to stop myself from screaming again. It was all I wanted to do. I just wanted to curl in on myself and cry and scream until my throat was numb and the pain had eased up. MacTavish was dead. Price was dead. Yuri was dead. What about Ghost? Roach? Archer? Toad? Oh, please say they managed to survive...

_I mean it this time, short stuff. Turn. It. Off. You know what you have to do. Finish it. _

I took in a couple of short, gasping breaths and pressed my hands to my eyes while I regained focus. When I did, I dropped my arms and cast one last look over at the smouldering remains of the tower, feeling myself slip away into the skin of the person who I thought I had left behind in Afghan. I didn't think I would ever have to face her again, but now I was welcoming her with open arms, and we had a job to do.

If any of my team had managed to survive those blasts, they weren't going to hold out much longer unless I created an even bigger distraction for Makarov and his men.

'Did you really think I was that naive, дарлинг?' Makarov's cold voice cut through me like a knife and stiffly, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the remote that would trigger my own explosives. I turned to face him and a hard smile tugged at my lips.

_That's my girl. _

'Did you really think we didn't have a Plan B?' I held up the remote and twirled it between my fingers once, hardly noticing the various guns now pointing in my direction, 'It's been fun, but I think it's time we wrapped this one up.' I winked and grinned widely and then I flipped the switch that was set to bring this entire building down on top of us.

* * *

***Ghosts POV***

**** **A third blast went off and my heart dropped straight down into my stomach. I ducked behind cover and checked to see that MacTavish was still with us before working myself up.

'Price, I have to go back, I'm sorry.' I shook my head and reloaded quickly, getting ready to take out anybody who was managing to power through the last explosion.

'We have to keep moving!' He crouched and took hold of MacTavish himself.

'Mackenzie might still be alive!' I shouted, pointing my gun in her direction, 'We have to at least check.'

'We'll go.' Toad wiped some more blood from his forehead. I looked down and next to him, Archer nodded in agreement.

'Count me in.' Roach piped up, 'Ghost, you have to get out of here.'

'Listen here, bug-'

'No, you listen, tough guy!' I was taken aback by the sudden shift in his attitude. I couldn't remember the last time I had seen an outburst from Roach, or if I ever had. He was too chilled out for confrontation of this sort, but he seemed ready to set me straight, 'If she's still alive, are you gonna be the one to tell her that MacTavish died because you came back to get her? She will tear your fucking head off and you know it. If you really want to help her, then make sure that he survives this. We'll bring her back to you.' _Dead or alive_. The end of that sentence didn't need to be spoken out loud. We were all thinking it.

'Fine. Be as quick as you can.' I nodded once and the three of them all bolted from cover, firing as they went, 'Okay, come on.' I helped Price with MacTavish and Yuri ran ahead to clear us a path. All we needed to do was find somewhere safe that we could lay him down until Nikolai came in and took us back to base. Since Archer wasn't here now, I was going to have to play medic. I didn't have as much experience as I would have liked, but it was MacTavish, so I would have to try. I don't think I would be able to stand seeing the look in Mackenzie's eyes. I didn't want to hear her cry because she had lost him.

No, MacTavish wasn't going to die here, not like this. Not while I was still around. ******

* * *

It was dark and it was cold, but I liked it because I didn't feel anything. I was wrapped in a safe little cocoon away from the rest of the world where nothing could hurt me anymore. I was just drifting, swimming through a cool, peaceful cloud in a dark, calming sky.

And then someone called my name. It sounded like an echo and I didn't open my eyes for it. But then I heard it again, more urgent this time, louder. I groaned and tried to shake my head, but I couldn't move. I didn't _want_ to move.

'I see her! She's here! Blitz, can you hear me? Blitz!' Blinding light pierced my cocoon bit by bit until the dark sky was gone and I was falling from my cloud. I was thrown back down into a world of pain and noise and I opened my eyes to see where I was. I squinted against the brightness and wished I could retreat back into my bubble.

'Her eyes are open! Blitz?' A sudden weight lifted from my chest and I drew in a huge breath that I hadn't realised I'd needed. Agony seared through me and I whimpered quietly.

'Hey, hey, take it easy.' There was that stupid voice again. More weight was lifted from my legs and I tried to seek out who it was that was helping me. All I could see were three shadows and I blinked, trying to clear my vision.

'Okay, Roach, help her up.' Someone was now reaching down towards me and I grunted softly when they hauled me up and out of the hole I had been lying in. Couldn't they have just left me there?

I was set down carefully on my feet and my knees buckled beneath me. I grabbed the person closest to me and looked up at them through blurry eyes. Shock jolted through me and I clutched at him tighter. _It couldn't be..._

'Aaron?' I whispered, reaching up to gently touch his face. He was real! He was really here! 'I've missed you-' A wave of dizziness crashed through my head and I went to fall again, but he caught me before I hit the ground. This time, I threw one arm round his neck for support.

'She's hallucinating. It's normal and it'll pass, but we have to get her out of here, now.' I glanced back up towards Aaron, but I only saw Roach. That couldn't be right. I had seen him. _He had been right here! _

'Shit, look out!' I scrunched my face up against the sharp jab of pain that slashed my stomach when I was moved suddenly and pulled down behind cover. I laid my head against Roach's shoulder and wrapped my arms around myself, feeling like I was going to fall apart if I didn't.

'How many are there?'

'About fifteen total.' I moved my head slowly to the other two and smiled lightly when I finally identified them to be Archer and Toad.

'How screwed are we then?' My voice sounded strained and I hated it.

'Pretty screwed.' Toad laughed once without humour and stared down at me with an expression on his face that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I blew out a quiet breath and tried to push myself back up, but I only ended up falling back down even harder onto Roach. I screwed my eyes shut against the pressure I was feeling against my ribs and when I opened them again, my old friend was back.

'We're going to make a run for it.' He said as he wrapped an arm around my waist and went to pick me up.

'Wait, Aaron, don't you dare!' I held up my hand and swallowed hard against a roll of nausea that turned my stomach, 'Just get me a gun and I'll be fine.'

'No, you won't.' He rolled his eyes and his grip on me tightened. I shook my head sharply and I was back to seeing Roach's face before my eyes. _What was happening to me?_

'Kenzie, you two are gonna get out of here, okay?' Archer smiled at me and I frowned. They were coming too, weren't they? 'Ghost needs you, so does MacTavish. We're gonna stay right here and hold those bastards off for as long as we can. It's the least we can do.'

'I thought MacTavish was dead?' The spark of hope I felt burnt out as soon as his words registered. A chill settled under my skin and I shook my head again, ignoring how it felt like my brain was banging around inside my skull, 'No, we're all gonna survive and then go back to base and have a few beers.' I hissed in air through my teeth at a sudden slicing pain in my temples.

'Have one for us then, yeah?' Toad smiled at me next, but I noticed the way it wobbled and panic began to rise in my chest.

'No, no, you two have to come with us! We've got to stick together, we're a team, it's what we do, y-you can't...' I trailed off, not sure what else to say. _What else could I say?!_ I watched Archer nod once towards Roach and in one swift, painful movement, I was hoisted up into his arms and we were off.

'Roach, no! We can't leave them!' I screamed through the pain I was feeling in my bones and twisted back round to find our snipers, 'Archer! Toad!' I struggled through the pain and I looked round just in time to see a spray of blood leave Toad's mouth as he hit the ground. I screamed again and it choked off into a mournful cry when Archer fell next to him.

I sobbed into Roach's neck as he manoeuvred us around the worst of the fight as quickly as he could. I couldn't believe this was happening. I had done what I had done to stop this from happening, yet I had just watched two more members of this team die. How many more? How much more death was I going to have to witness? How much more heartbreak was I going to have to deal with?

'Roach! Roach, in here!' I sniffed and turned my head at the sound of that sorely familiar British accent. _Ghost_. 'Nikolai's on his way, but you have to help me, mate.' Why did he sound worried? What was going on? I wiped at my eyes and saw that his hands were scarlet red. Who's blood was that?

'Blitz, I'm gonna sit you down here and you're not gonna panic, okay?' We were inside now, out of any line of fire and it was a bit darker which was good. The dark was good right now.

'Why would I panic?' I sighed heavily and rubbed at my forehead when Roach sat me onto one of the rickety wooden chairs. Nobody replied and I narrowed my eyes as I looked around the room. There was Price and Yuri! They had survived those explosions! Then there was Ghost and Roach and...

'MacTavish?' I whispered, mainly to myself. My mouth went dry and I forced myself off the chair. I almost fell as I made my way to the table he was lying on, but I needed to see what was happening, 'My God...' I shoved Price out the way and clutched at MacTavish's hand with both of mine. His chest was absolutely drenched in blood and it was dripping off the side of the table in a tauntingly sinister way, 'Is he gonna be okay?'

'I'm trying, Mackenzie, trust me.' Ghost continued doing whatever it was he was doing and barked orders at Roach while he did so. MacTavish coughed and cursed loudly before pinning me with tired eyes.

'Kenzie? Fuck, lass, I thought you were dead.' His breath was ragged and shallow and a fresh round of tears threatened to overwhelm me.

'I'm fine.' I lied through the skin of my teeth and forced a smile for his benefit. I heard Roach scoff from somewhere to my left, but I did my best to ignore him. His eyes fluttered and I squeezed his fingers hard.

'Hey! Stay with me, MacTavish!' I snapped harshly, 'You're not giving up on me now, you bastard!'

'Listen...' He went to pull me down to his level so I could hear him better. I refused to let him and just growled instead.

'No, there's not any last words or goodbyes. Not now. Tell me, all those years that you stuck around... Why? I know you hated my parents, so why did you ever come back, 'Tavish?'

'You... And Bonnie. You needed me.' A hint of a smile flitted across his mouth and I nodded, squeezing his fingers again to keep him conscious. A couple of tears leaked from my eyes and dripped down onto his glove.

'Exactly. And I still do. I'll always need you, MacTavish, so please, please hold on.' I broke on the last please and pressed his hand to my forehead, hiding my face from the rest of them as I cried silently, praying fervently to a God I didn't even believe in that he would pull through this. He was the strongest man I knew; he could fight this.

'Nikolai is here!' Yuri spoke suddenly and as everybody prepared to move MacTavish, I was rocked with a burning anger as I looked at the Russian. He watched me carefully with his dark eyes and I glanced round quickly at Price as I felt him brush past my back. In a motion that almost made me cry out in pain, I ripped his pistol from his holster and pointed it at Yuri before cocking it and placing my finger over the trigger.

'You motherfucker.' I injected as much venom into my tone as I could, 'We trusted you.'

'Kenzie, it's not what you think-'

'I risked my fucking life for you. Twice!' I gave a short burst of bitter laughter and then narrowed my eyes again, 'Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you dead right now.' As I watched him, the scene before me flickered twice and I was back in Afghan, back in that room with the bastard we had been sent here to kill. He grinned widely to reveal a row of yellow teeth and I bared my own as I clenched my gun tighter in my hand. I was going to put a bullet into him for every single person I had lost, and then I was going to laugh about it.

'Mackenzie!' The gun was snatched from my hands and I yelled out in anger and shock as I was snapped back to the here and now. I was in Prague and I was aiming a gun at Yuri. I was not in Afghan and I was not aiming a gun at the man who used to haunt my dreams. Ghost touched my cheek lightly and jerked his head towards the door, 'We have to go now. We have incoming hostiles and Soap...'

'Okay, sorry.' I kept my tone clipped and scowled back at Yuri, 'This isn't over.' I began to hobble away, but I was swept up off my feet by Ghost as he hurried us over to where Nikolai's chopper was waiting. I whined quietly as my muscles ached in protest, but if it got us out of here quicker, then I wasn't going to complain.

He was gentle as he placed me down onto one of the seats and I watched on as he fished out the little emergency medical kit Nikolai kept with him.

'Will that help?' I asked weakly.

'It'll do for now.' I was content with that answer and tried to get as comfortable as possible, closing my eyes and thinking about sleep. I could probably do with some medical attention myself, but I would live. MacTavish needed it a lot more than I did.

'Hey, what was that little stunt back there with my gun?' I opened my eyes to see Price standing in front of me with his arms folded across his chest. I could tell instantly that his patience was fraying, and I didn't blame him. For all we knew, MacTavish wasn't going to make it back to base, none of us could confirm if Makarov had died when the building came down or not, and we had just lost two more of our squad.

I met his eyes and let my fury simmer there as I gave him an answer that he really didn't need to hear right now, 'Yuri knows Makarov.'


End file.
